


I Just Wanted Some Garlic Bread

by LadyDioptase



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression mentions, F/M, Magic, Medicine, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader has a past, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, anxiety mentions, mentions of self harm, reader is a freakin nerd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-06-14 20:59:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15397320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDioptase/pseuds/LadyDioptase
Summary: You worked with bacteria. Grew it, cultured it, studied it. Monsters breaching the surface meant you had a lot of new testing to do. At the end of a long slew of tests, you find yourself in a casual Italian restaurant with a craving for carbs and wind up taking care of a large skeleton who introduces you to some new friends.You only hope no one gets hurt.





	1. Chapter 1

Recently, the barrier between the underground and the surface had broken. You weren’t too worried about what that meant for society-- After all, you knew that real evil could be found in just about anyone, human or no. What you’d heard after the monster/human ambassador emerged with the monsters was that they were, on the whole, rather fond of nonviolent policies in their own society. Their only form of physical aggression had previously been directed towards humans, and even Frisk had won them over to see that actions needed to be taken first. 

You didn’t have much time to personally interact with monsters, unfortunately. With the new arrivals, politics had been thrown into chaos. Ordinarily you didn’t have much of anything to do with political situations, but there were health issues as well. 

Human understanding of monsters was very little and no one wanted disease spreading and causing an epidemic. When humans expressed this concern to Frisk, who then helpfully relayed this information in a more palatable way to monsterkind, they agreed to undergo certain tests for safety precautions. Only a handful of monsters were able to provide you with samples to culture and identify however, and things you could identify were mostly harmless to humans. 

It was finally the end of the week, and you had finished your last plate of monster bacteria about an hour ago. You were on your way to pick up dinner-- A treat to yourself loaded with carbs and garlic. As you paid for your meal and secured the to go bag in your grasp, a loud voice interrupted most of the other customers. 

“WOWIE! THERE ARE SO MANY PASTAS! WHAT IS ‘FARFALLE’? ‘TORTELLINI’? ARE THESE REAL?!” You turned your head towards the sound and saw a rather lanky skeleton with his skull buried in a menu. Patrons around you quieted down and looked away, mumbling to themselves about manners and volume. It was the first time you had been this close to a monster in person-- Were they all this loud? 

“OH MY. THERE ARE SO MANY… SO MANY PASTAS. HOW CAN I EAT THEM ALL? WHAT WILL I DO? I CAN’T DISRESPECT PASTA!” The skeleton had put his menu down and was staring at it sadly, starting to fret and worry. You felt your heart clench-- You knew what it was like to feel overwhelmed with choices. That’s why you didn’t eat in much. The week had exhausted you, but you couldn’t just let the tall skeleton suffer from what looked like an oncoming panic attack. You approached the table carefully.

“Hey, the menu giving you a hard time?” you asked calmly, offering a smile. Little pinpricks of white met your gaze and widened.

“I CANNOT LET A SIMPLE MENU DEFEAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS! BUT I WILL ADMIT IT IS GIVING ME TROUBLE,” he half shouted (was this his speaking volume?). Setting your bag of food down, you took a seat across from Papyrus. 

“That’s okay Papyrus. Why don’t we see if I can help you? Were you interested in a noodle dish?” 

“YOU ARE CORRECT! BUT THERE ARE SO MANY, HOW COULD I EVER CHOOSE JUST ONE NOODLE? THEY ALL MUST BE VERY GREAT! YOU HUMANS HAVE SO MANY TYPES OF PASTA, AND ALTHOUGH SPAGHETTI WILL ALWAYS BE SUPERIOR, I WOULD LIKE TO TRY MORE!” It was impossible not to smile despite the anxiety over the situation. He seemed so enthused over the noodles and you couldn’t help but join him in the excitement. 

“Okay, how about this? I’ll point out some of the dishes that I like. I’ve had them before so I can tell you all about them, then you can pick one. We can come back next week to try another one so all the pasta gets a fair chance,” you try, hoping that he’ll feel better about the situation with a plan in mind. “How does that sound?” Papyrus gasps with delight, clapping his gloved hands together as he beams at you. 

“THAT IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA, HUMAN FRIEND! YOU MUST BE A VERY CLEVER HUMAN, TO COME UP WITH SUCH A GENIUS METHOD AND TO BE DRAWN TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ COMPANY!” If it were anyone else, that sort of talk would sound conceited at best, but on this giant skeleton man it felt like it was endearing. 

Of course, just because you were endeared to him didn’t mean the other patrons enjoyed his presence. People were starting to whisper and a few fingers tried to point with discretion.

“Sounds like a plan then. Why don’t we order something to go? I could--”

“ANOTHER EXCELLENT IDEA! I COULD BRING FOOD OF ACTUAL QUALITY HOME TO MY LAZYBONES BROTHER, AND SHOW OFF MY WONDERFUL NEW HUMAN FRIEND AT ONCE!” You felt your mouth twitch tiredly. Dark bags and scrubs probably weren’t going to warrant a good first impression, but maybe you could make up for it by picking out good food. Besides, you just couldn’t say no. Papyrus seemed so taken with the idea. It also didn’t seem like the greatest idea to go home with a stranger, but… You weren’t sure that Papyrus could honestly hurt a fly without launching into a fit of tears. 

And if you were wrong, well, you reach into your purse briefly to feel the cool reassurance of your perfectly legal X-acto knife. You know too well how it could hurt.

“Okay then, we’ll get some food and bring it back to your house. Do you live far from here, Papyrus?”

“I DO NOT! MY BROTHER AND I LIVE APPROXIMATELY THREE BLOCKS TO THE EAST!” He was right, it wasn’t too far. Your aching feet could take three blocks. You scootched your chair closer to the skeleton and looked over the menu with him, pointing out a few of your favorites. When Papyrus managed to narrow his options down to three candidates for dinner, he trusted you with the decision and loudly repeated his order to the waiter. Soon the two of you were side by side walking down the street towards your new ‘friend’s home.


	2. Chapter 2

You found out that he was the mascot for monsterkind. It made sense, really-- How could anyone be afraid or hate this big loveable goon? Papyrus was excessively loud, but also kind and encouraging. He and his brother were good friends with Ambassador Frisk, too. Papyrus rambled on and on until you reached his house, but you didn’t find yourself minding overly much. You were happy to listen and learn. Plus with this amount of exhaustion, you weren’t too sure how good you would be at talking about yourself without some prompting.

“HERE WE ARE, THE HOME OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND SANS, OF COURSE. “

For being in the city, it was a decently sized home. The brick was a sandy color and well kept, and the door seemed to have a fresh coat of paint on it-- Most likely from Papyrus. It was orange, and although it was certainly bright, it didn’t seem too loud for a quiet little home.

“Huh, is Sans your brother’s name?” you asked. “What is your guys’ last name, ‘Font’?” 

“OF COURSE NOT! IT’S ‘SKELETON’, WHAT A RIDICULOUS NOTION!” You roll your eyes and smile. Papyrus unlocked the door and gestured for you to head inside and get acquainted with the place. “I WILL GO AND PROBABLY WAKE MY BROTHER. PLEASE MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME!”

You kick off your sneakers as you watch Papyrus leap up the stairs and shout for his brother. Ordinarily you’d be anxious, left alone in a new place and about to meet a new person-- But you were just too tired to care. You headed towards the kitchen and sat your food down on the table before you rifled through their cabinets for some plates and utensils. Everything was meticulously organized. Sticky notes with large lettering were placed under the cabinets with short descriptions of the contents, you noted, and wondered if that could have been anybody but Papyrus. Maybe it was from moving recently, or maybe he just liked his kitchen well labelled. Either way, it helped you in your search. 

As you set the dinnerware around the table, you heard shouts from upstairs and then the thudding of Papyrus’ bounding steps. You looked up to the kitchen entryway and smiled up at the large skeleton. 

“Hey, hope you don’t mind I--”

“HUMAN! YOU HAVE ALREADY SET THE TABLE, YOU ARE A DELIGHT! WE WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE KEEPING YOUR COMPANY!” Papyrus beamed, holding your face in between his gloved hands. Wow. 

“Haha, um, thanks?” Your cheeks felt like they were a little warmer than usual. Human (monster?) contact wasn’t something you were always comfortable with-- Especially with new people. But you did have to admit it felt nice, and Papyrus was just always so genuine. 

“hey, no manhandling the human yet, paps.” Another voice joined the two of you and you leaned past Papyrus to meet it. 

Another skeleton, unsurprisingly, but much shorter than Papyrus. Overall this skeleton seemed much rounder in both his body shape and facial (?) features. His clothing wasn’t so ostentatious either, just a simple t shirt under a hoodie and some athletic shorts. And were those….pink fuzzy slippers? Well at least you didn’t feel so bad about your tired appearance anymore. 

“I WOULD NEVER MANHANDLE A FRIEND! AND LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO HER, SANS, THIS IS ____.” Papyrus released your face to gesture at you wildly, making several ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ noises to emphasize your presence. That definitely made your face red. “SHE IS A TREASURE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEEDS NO RESCUING, BUT IF I HAD, SHE DEFINITELY WOULD HAVE MADE A VALIANT ONE!” You smile a little timidly and offer a wave in response. The way Sans was staring at you wasn’t helping your little wave of discomfort either, especially when he looked like he was boring straight into your soul with those empty eye sockets. Even his smile looked forced.

“Uh, hi. Sans, right? I’m ____. I helped your brother pick out some noodles,” you explained. “Hope you don’t mind he invited me back for dinner.”

Then his grin widened. 

“that’s me, sans the skeleton.” A bony hand extended out to you. “nice to meet ya. thanks for helping out my brother, really appreciate it.” Finally you felt like you could relax again and you slipped your hand into his, grasping carefully. 

“Not a problem. He had me pick out some food for you too, so I hope you like it.” 

“LET US SIT AND EAT THE GLORIOUS PASTA!” 

The three of you sat around the round table and you helped Papyrus portion out things for him and his brother. For Papyrus, you’d chosen a dish of tagliatelle and bolognese sauce-- Not too far from his standard spaghetti and marinara, but still new. And Sans, you had been told he loved bold tomato flavors, so he was given arrabbiata penne. Together, you and Papyrus had decided that you wouldn’t tell Sans about the peppers in the sauce until he tasted it. You’d never heard a prank called a ‘jape’, but it sounded like a fun word, so you rolled with it. For yourself you picked out some pesto pasta and you all got some of that delicious, sinful garlic bread that went with any pasta meal as far as you were concerned.

You stuffed bread in your mouth and watched Papyrus as he tried his first bite. It was almost comical how his eye sockets filled with tears contrasted the dopey grin on his face. 

“You like?”

“IT IS EXCELLENT!” You hummed happily around your mouthful of bread and turned your eyes towards Sans. 

“How about you?”  The smaller skeleton shoved a forkful into his mouth (okay, how did his teeth open like that and also where was the food going?) and swallowed. You and Papyrus waited with bated breath to see if he would even react to the peppers. 

“hm. ‘s not bad, needs more tomato.” 

Then it hit him. 

You could see the flush on his cheeks start as a light blue and gradually grow darker. Sans tried to keep his cool and grinned at the two of you through the discomfort, pointedly taking another bite of his penne. You glanced over at Papyrus, who seemed thoroughly amused. 

It was bite five that got him. 

“stars, what’s in this kid? jeez, i wasn’t kidding when i said it needs more tomato.” He abruptly excused himself from the table and wandered over to the fridge. He probably needed something to cool his mouth down. 

“YOU HAVE BEEN JAPED, BROTHER! OUR GREAT HUMAN FRIEND AND I HAVE NOW BONDED OVER A JOINT JAPE, ISN’T THAT WONDERFUL? NYEH HEH HEH!” You snorted slightly around a mouthful and covered yourself with your hand-- God you had to get used to that laugh. 

“Sorry Sans, I couldn’t say no. I’m sure if you add cheese, it’ll...temper…..the heat….?” You turned around to apologize and were met with the image of a skeleton chugging ketchup straight from the bottle. Just squeezing it into his mouth like it were Gatorade, and not a tomato puree. “I mean-- I guess that works too.” A bony hand waved at you.

“don’t  _ sweat _ it kid. but this means you’re fair game for pranks now,” Sans grinned over his shoulder at you. 

“Could I possibly be forgiven if I get you a perfectly good dish next week?” He startled a bit at your question, and you looked at Papyrus quickly to see if you had said something.

“i guess we’ll see next week, won’t we?” Ketchup bottle in hand, Sans returned to the table and mixed in some more tomato into his sauce. You peered at the label on the bottle and made a mental note to yourself for next week. 

“SHE IS NOT ‘FAIR GAME’ FOR PRANKS YET, SANS. I DO NOT WANT YOUR LAZY ATTEMPTS AT HUMOR TO SCARE HER AWAY!” Papyrus protested, managing a grumpy pout. “WE HAVE TO ENTHRALL HER WITH OUR GREATNESS FIRST BEFORE WE INTRODUCE HER TO THAT!” You laughed and reached over to pat Papyrus’ shoulder with your free hand. 

“Don’t worry, big guy. My sense of humor is a mix between wit and garbage-- I’m not going anywhere,” you reassured. 

“see? you’re just talking  _ trash _ about my routine, bro.”

“Did you just use my words to make a pun?”

“don’t tell me it got you all down in the  _ dumps _ .”

“Yeah, I’m definitely coming back next week.” Papyrus threw up his hands and groaned. “But a routine, huh? Are you a  _ comic sans _ ?” Another yell and Sans’ grin stretched across his face as he finger gunned you.

“atta girl.”

“SANS IS A COMEDIAN, YES, BUT THAT DOES NOT EXCUSE HIS TERRIBLE PUNS!” 

“That’s really cool. I couldn’t imagine standing up in front of an audience like that and just… waiting for them to laugh. It’d make me nuts.” 

“eh, i do pretty well most nights. maybe i’ll  _ cashew _ around at a show, ever been to grillby’s?”

“SANS!” You snorted into your pasta, offering a head shake in response. 

“its a monster bar. the owner’s a good friend, so i do my stand up there some nights.”

“Well I don’t really go to bars, too many people. But maybe I’ll stop in sometime.”

You exchanged another few jokes with Sans despite his brothers’ protests as you finished up your dinner. Papyrus was already enthused to try another dish next week. You had wanted to stay and help with dishes, but the taller skeleton insisted that it was his responsibility as a good host to decline your offer. 

“plus you look like youre the walking dead, kid. and look where that’s coming from.” You maybe giggled, too full and sleepy. “go get some rest before you keel over. me n paps got this.” 

“Fine, fine. Don’t forget about our date next week, guys!”

After exchanging numbers and waving goodbye to Sans, then immediately being crushed in a Papyrus hug, you headed home to crash.

“...so, a human huh?”


	3. Chapter 3

You needed at least ten more minutes of sleep. 

You wanted at least ten more days of sleep, but what was a girl to do? You had to get to work. At least the rush of working overtime to plate up and examine all the monster samples was over. What you’d have to do today was still up in the air, but you were hopeful that it wouldn’t be as bad as the last few weeks.

With a yawn, you rolled yourself out of bed and pressed the button on your phone for the alarm to stop. When you looked down there was a handful of new messages.

_ HELLO, HUMAN! IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN, IT IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS! _

_ HAVE AN EXCELLENT DAY AT WORK! I BELIEVE IN YOUR GREATNESS! _

_ AND PLEASE DO NOT FORGET ABOUT OUR ‘DATE’ NEXT WEEK. I CAN’T WAIT! _

You smiled down at the screen and felt yourself fill up with resolve to face the day. After you got yourself suited up in your scrubs and teeth brushed, hair pulled back, you sat down at your kitchen counter and texted Papyrus back while you ate breakfast.

_ Thanks, Papyrus. Really needed that today. Can’t wait to see you guys again soon! _

You went to work and things were normal for a while. A few days of relative peace in the hospital, and exchanging texts with Papyrus. Sometimes you would text shitty puns to Sans and he would respond in turn, but you two didn’t talk much outside of that.

Sometimes you wondered anxiously if he was still suspicious of you, or didn’t like you at all. But you tried to quiet that part of your brain down-- After all, texts were largely hard to read emotions on.

A week had finally passed and you were eager for the workday to already be done. You clocked in and set your bags in your locker before checking on the plates you had incubating. Still needed some time to grow-- Only a few colonies had formed, not nearly enough to start replating. As you sat down at your desk, your coworker Andrea walked in with her usual coffee. 

“Hey, ___. Did you hear about the big meeting today?” You glanced up from reviewing sample orders for a few moments and shook your head. 

“Nah. Is it a hospital wide meeting or something? We don’t usually go to meetings, Mike does.” Occasionally there was a particular patient or test result that needed the microbiology department (department, ha, you were six people) and its expertise, but that was rare. Usually the laboratory supervisor Mike went to meetings for your whole lab staff. 

“I heard its about the monsters. Just a big talk about health care, now that we’ve got the most pressing stuff out of the way. Not that anyone is going to thank us.” It took the four of you pulling almost eighteen hour shifts for weeks to get all the samples cultured and examined properly. You were finally back to your normal schedule-- Two people per shift and you got lucky to be stationed on days. Nights were your least favorite and thankfully the hospital was fairly understanding of your limitations.

“Monsters, huh? Guess we’ll hear about it when Mike pops in for his dailies.” You couldn’t help but think of your new monster friends and smiled down at your sample of urine. Andrea snickered at you but said nothing-- She was used to you getting excited about samples and there wasn’t any pressing need to correct her.

The two of you split up between tasks for a few hours. Today Andrea was making batches of agar and broth for specimens and you were taking care of outside orders when there weren’t hospital samples. About an hour before lunch, Mike came into the micro department with his usual smile. 

“Afternoon, ladies. How are things in the bacteria world today?” You couldn’t help but smile and pull out two plates to show off. 

“Pretty good! Check it out, we got a bacillus cereus! Poor guy probably isn’t having a whole lot of fun right now, but the plate is cool and this might teach him not to leave food just sitting out. Look at all those colonies. And look at this one! M. luteus. Always such a fun yellow.” Andrea chirped out something in agreement from the back, followed by a good natured chuckle from Mike. 

“Good to hear. So, ___ I have a proposition for you.” Your smile faltered a bit as you looked up from your precious plates, but you tried your best to keep it in place. 

“Uh, yeah? What’s up?” Making your voice even was too hard. You sounded like an idiot. 

“Well, I don’t know if you heard about the meeting,” you instantly relaxed, it was work related, “But its about monsters. The guys upstairs are really insistent on having someone from the micro department there to get your input, plus you know the other departments pretty well, and uh, I thought you’d be the best to go. Would you mind?” It took you a few moments to really process the information. You didn’t think you were very good at speaking-- Your voice shook and your hands got sweaty, your whole body trembled while you stayed articulate. 

“Um, sure, I guess I can go,” you agreed hesitantly. 

“Don’t worry. I just wanted to send you because, well to be frank-- You’ve got the most patience of anyone here. And I doubt we’d get even a hint of bigotry out of you,” Mike started with another gentle smile. “And if it makes you feel any better, you’ll be meeting with the former Queen and Royal Scientist. The Queen is a really sweet lady and the scientist might be more anxious than you are.”

You doubted that. 

But you might have been wrong. 

By god was that lizard woman smart, but she had a really tough time speaking to the group. The Queen, Toriel as she had insisted on being called, did her best to speak for Dr. Alphys when she got too overwhelmed. 

In the end, it was a fairly straightforward meeting. Monsters didn’t have anything necessarily harmful in their system towards humans, but no one was sure the same could be said when the situation flipped. There were talks of attempting to create vaccines, and doing some testing on monsters (which made some folks cringe). Toriel was quick to assure that any monsters being tested on were going to be chosen on a volunteer basis, and smiled almost coldly towards a large goat man seated at the table. You decided there was something else there that you didn’t have time to think about.

A lot of attention focused on you, being the representative of the laboratory. Your lab would be checking results-- Antibody titers, how well bacteria could grow in monsters (if they could at all), and making up a new formula for monster agar if it needed a special environment. Dr. Alphys quickly added that she would be joining your laboratory to assist with the necessary tests and arrangements. You almost felt bad that you had to force a smile-- She seemed nice enough, you just didn’t like change. 

By the end of it, you just wanted to flop down on your couch and speak to no one for several hours.

When the meeting was adjourned, you stuck back to speak with Alphys about your laboratory and how she would be accommodated there. 

“Dr. Alphys, we’re happy to have you help us out. We don’t want monsters getting sick like dogs and us be able to do nothing about it,” you said genuinely. “I’m sure your expertise will be a lot of help to us in making sure monsters stay healthy.”  You’d never seen a lizard turn red before, but boy was this gal doing it.

“O-oh, um, that’s...that’s very nice of you to say? I-I’m glad you’re willing t-to help monsters like us. We, uh, worried about that a-a lot underground.” She shifted those round glasses on her...nose? snout? and offered you a timid smile, finally managing to meet your eyes. It was only for a second, but you were sure that was a victory for her. 

“I’ll let you get back to it. Come down to the lab whenever you’re ready with all your stuff, and I’ll tell Mike that we need some space for your special equipment.” You gave a little salute to say goodbye, turned around and were ready to head out for lunch when you were stopped by the gigantic goat woman. 

“Excuse me, my child.” Child? You knew you had kind of a baby face, but you were in your mid twenties. Oh well. “I do not mean to take up much of your time. But I overheard your name in our talks here-- Do you happen to know two skeletons?”

“Er, yes?” you drew out, raising a brow. “Should I-- Should I not?” The question was perfectly innocent, but it sent your heart racing. Toriel responded with a gentle laugh and patted your shoulder with a warm hand. 

“Don’t fret, don’t worry. I am simply very acquainted with the two of them, and they have told me much about you.” Oh god, you hoped this massive goat lady didn’t hate you. “They seem quite fond of you! If you would like, perhaps we could have dinner sometime. Sans has also told Frisk quite a bit about you, and they are eager to meet you. It would be nice to have everyone together for a meal, don’t you think?”

Well, that certainly wasn’t what you were expecting. 

“Uh, um, I mean-- Yeah! That sounds good. I’ve heard a lot about Frisk too, and I’ll never turn down a home cooked meal.” Her laugh was louder, more of a bleat this time, but it was still impossibly cordial. 

“Wonderful. I’ll speak with Sans later about contacting you-- For now, I’m sure you have much to do, my child.” She enveloped you in a warm hug and she was incredibly soft, but sturdy around you. Then you were free and supposed to go on lunch. 

As you pulled out your lunchbox and headed to the breakroom it hit you that Toriel had said  _ Sans _ was the one to give up the info on you, not Papyrus, and you wondered exactly what he could have told her about you. Whatever. You’d had too much social interaction in the last hour and it was time to just shut off the brain for the next half hour.

...

And you still had a dinner date set up for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to anyone who recognizes the bacteria! Also if you think I'm motivated by comments and kudos to post two chapters in the span of 24 hours.... You right, you right.


	4. Chapter 4

God bless benevolent bosses. 

Mike knew that sending you up to talk with so many people would take a toll on you, so when you got back there was a cold Mountain Dew sitting on your desk with a smiley faced sticky note on it. You couldn’t help but feel a little better and stepped outside the lab to take a nice chug of the caffeine. Once it got into your system, the nerves would settle down a little. It seemed a tad contradictory that caffeine soothed your anxiety but-- You weren’t going to question what helped. 

After you capped the bottle and slipped it into the strictly food refrigerator, you headed back into the lab.

“So how was the meeting?” Andrea piped up, sticking her head out from the back. 

“Not awful,” you called towards her, “But we’re gonna be running some more tests on monsters, see if we can get an idea of if or how human bacteria will make them sick. Then see if we can get some vaccines or something up for them.”  She hummed her approval before heading back to her task and leaving you to your own work. The rest of the day ran smoothly and before you knew it, you were heading out to the front of the hospital to meet Papyrus. 

Of course he had insisted on picking you up from work and taking you home afterwards. Instead of leaving your car in the parking lot all night, you’d opted to take the bus to work-- Which wasn’t as bad as you remembered, thankfully. Maybe things were getting better. 

Then you saw Papyrus. 

Standing in front of his motorcycle. 

“FRIEND! I AM OVERJOYED TO SEE YOU!” Before you could really process the fact that you were going to be on a motorcycle with a literal bag of bones and oh dear god what were you going to hold on to, you were enveloped in a hug, your second of the day.

“Hey, Papyrus,” you sighed with a tired smile, leaning into him. You’d known him for a week, sure-- But he already felt like a good friend. Papyrus seldom set off your social anxiety and had so far done his best to make sure you felt comfortable-- Even through text messages and phone calls. Before he pulled back, Papyrus made sure to give you an affectionate little squeeze. 

“ARE YOU PREPARED FOR OUR NEXT PASTA ADVENTURE?” he asked excitedly, tugging you towards his ‘vehicle’ of choice. “THERE ARE SO MANY POSSIBILITIES! AND ALTHOUGH WE PROMISED SANS NO JAPES THIS TIME, I’M SURE YOU WILL FIND DINNER ENJOYABLE!” The way he said that you’d enjoy your dinner made you slightly worried, but then you pushed the thought aside. Papyrus couldn’t do anything bad. 

“I’m ready as hell. It’s been a long day and I am ready to stuff my face.” 

“EXCELLENT! ALSO, I HAVE A SMALL GIFT FOR YOU, ALTHOUGH I HESITATE TO CALL IT A GIFT BECAUSE IT IS MORE FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUR DELICATE HUMAN CONSTRUCT. ANYWAY! HERE YOU GO!” A bike helmet was shoved into your hands before you could even protest that humans could take a good beating or two. Then again, you were kind of frail. Either way-- It was sweet of him to even think of your safety. 

“Oh thank you, Pap, that’s really nice of you to do for me,” you smiled sincerely as your fingers traced the designs. The helmet was mostly black, but it had wispy streaks of electric blue running across it. “You remembered my favorite color?” Or he might have just looked back at your text message version of 20 Questions, but either way, you were touched he cared. 

“OF COURSE! IT IS BLUE, CORRECT? BUT SADLY, I CAN’T TAKE THE CREDIT FOR THIS HAPPY COINCIDENCE. SANS HELPED ME CHOOSE IT.”

“Huh. Well either way, I like it. And really, it’s sweet of you to make sure I’m safe.” You ducked your head and strapped the helmet on properly. You were probably a sight, blue scrubs and a motorcycle helmet with sneakers. “How do I look?” you snickered, striking a half assed pose. 

“EXCELLENT AS ALWAYS! BLUE DOES CERTAINLY SUIT YOU!” Okay, that wasn’t what you were expecting. You felt your face getting warm. “AS DOES THAT RED!” 

“Papyrus, please. Should we go?”

“OH, YES! PASTA IS WAITING FOR US!” 

And then you stood there. 

Waiting. 

Silently. 

“Uh… Pap, are you gonna get on?” His little eyelights blinked at you for a moment or two as he tilted his skull. 

“OF COURSE NOT. YOU WILL GET ON FIRST. DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE?” 

“No, I just thought-- Nevermind, I’ll get on now.” You really hadn’t thought you’d be riding in front, but it did mean that you could hold on to the handlebars instead of your huge skeleton friend. That would save you some embarrassment, bless his sweet little soul. You silently thanked the video game yoga gods that you’d gotten some flexibility lately and maneuvered yourself onto the bike without knocking the whole thing over. Then Papyrus hopped on behind you, a bony arm on either side. 

“PLEASE KEEP YOUR GRIP TIGHT, HUMAN! I DO NOT WANT YOU TO FALL. ARE YOU READY?” You could feel his booming voice rumble in his chest behind you. It almost tickled. 

“I’m ready, Paps. Let’s go!”

And you were off. 

You had expected the ride to be a little more frightening than it was. It was a motorcycle after all-- But Papyrus was nothing but a perfectly safe driver. The breeze actually felt nice on your skin, and if the wind got to be too much, the large skeleton around you blocked out the majority of it. When he asked if you were doing alright, you responded with a happy little laugh and squeezed his gloved hand instead of shouting over the noise. 

At the restaurant, you got to stretch your legs a bit and take off your helmet. Oh boy, was that a mistake. Helmet hair was real and you were now one of its many victims, despite having tied your hair back earlier that morning. You were too tired to really care, and Papyrus didn’t seem to mind being seen with you. A few people were staring-- But it also might have just been the fact that Papyrus was easily seven foot and still hadn’t perfected an ‘indoor voice’. After you picked up your orders, you returned to the bike and enjoyed the ride back to the skeletons’ place. Papyrus opened the door for you and immediately took the food bags from your hands. 

“WE WILL BE EATING IN THE LIVING ROOM! IT IS MORE COMFORTABLE THERE, AND I CAN INTRODUCE YOU TO AN EXCELLENT TELEVISION PROGRAM!” 

“Dinner  _ and _ a show? You sure know how to treat a lady, Pap,” you laughed playfully as you kicked off your shoes. 

“just make sure she’s home before midnight, prince charming.” Sans grinned from the top of the stairs and made his way down, still wearing those fuzzy slippers. “how’re you doin’, kid?” 

“Hiya, Sans. I’m tired. Had to go to a meeting today about the monsters and healthcare-- I’m not really good with talking in front of a group.” Then you remembered the two monsters you had met, and snapped your fingers. “Hey, speaking of which, you two know Toriel? She invited me to dinner with you guys and Frisk sometime. I said yes, I hope I’m not infringing on your friendship or anything.”

“OH, YOU MET TORIEL? WONDERFUL! NOW MY NEW FRIEND KNOWS AN OLD FRIEND!” By his reaction, you saw that they didn’t seem to mind. Sans almost seemed amused at the notion.

“yeah, tori’s a good friend of ours. frisk too. and you’re setting yourself up for a bad time, kid-- once you eat tori’s cooking, that’s it. you’ll end up over there every night for dinner.” You laughed, and the two of you followed Papyrus’ beckon into the living room. 

“I wouldn’t mind that. She seems so nice-- Is it weird I kind of wanted her to adopt me immediately upon meeting her?” Sans snorted. 

“NOT AT ALL! FRISK CALLED HER ‘MOM’ WITHIN TWENTY MINUTES OF MEETING HER. TORIEL IS VERY MOTHERLY-- I HAVE CALLED HER MOM ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS MYSELF, BY ACCIDENT!” 

As Papyrus started dishing out the food, Sans sprawled himself out on the couch. You took up residence in a recliner, and Papyrus opted to sit cross legged on the floor to use the coffee table as a real table. As soon as you saw the red sauce of Sans’ dish, you remembered what else you’d brought. 

“Oh, Sans! Here, wait a second.” He lifted his head to watch as you got your bag from the entryway and came back to rifle through it. “I got you-- Oh, here it is! I noticed you drinking it last time, and I figured if you’re gonna chug it you might as well try the good stuff. I like this kind way better.” You handed over a bottle of ketchup and hoped you weren’t being rude by offering him a different brand. 

It felt like you were being rude by the way he stared at you in silence for a few moments. 

“Um… I’m sorry, you don’t have to take it--”

“thanks, ___.” He took the bottle from you and read carefully over the label, memorizing the name and logo to buy for himself. The usual smile on his face seemed a little softer and you couldn’t help but feel like there was a tinge of blue to his skull. You really hoped you hadn’t embarrassed him. 

“THAT IS VERY KIND OF YOU HUMAN! I AM SO GLAD WE ARE FRIENDS, YOU ARE AN EXCELLENT FRIEND!” Papyrus gushed, stars in his eyes. 

“It’s, um, its nothing really,” you laughed timidly, running your fingers over the back of your neck. “I just thought you’d like that one better, is all.” Sans gave you a hum in response and started taking the bottle apart to get at the stuff while Papyrus returned to passing out the food. You just let things be, feeling slightly awkward about what you had done, despite the taller skeleton’s praise. 

When Sans finally got the bottle in his mouth, it was all over. 

“stars. pap. how’d you befriend this girl again? i gotta top that now to make sure she sticks around.” You burst out laughing, glad to have the tension in your body leave. 

“SHE HELPED ME IN MY MOMENT OF NEED! YOU ARE ALWAYS NEEDY BROTHER, YOU DO NOT NEED TO CHANGE.” The chuckles turned into terrible wheezing intermingled with cries of laughter. Sans watched you in amusement.

“I’m dying,” you managed to gasp between breaths, “Help me.” In an instant you were swooped up from the couch and laughing uncontrollably in Papyrus’ arms. 

“OH NO! I BROKE HER! SANS HELP ME, THE HUMAN IS DYING!!” You couldn’t help it-- He was so stupidly sweet to be so savage like that only moments before, and the contrast set you off again. Your feet kicked in the air and you curled in on yourself, giggling helplessly. “SANS!!!”

“don’t worry bro. she’s still  _ kicking. _ ” God your lungs hurt, and your face, your ribs. You’d be sore tomorrow. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you struggled to breathe, and it was still a few more minutes until you managed to settle down (Papyrus’ frantic worrying did not help).

“I’m-- Oh my god, I’m fine Papyrus,” you laughed breathlessly, gazing up at the tall skeleton to reassure him. “Oh my god. I love you two.” You smiled at Papyrus, then turned your face to Sans with the same warm gaze. 

“couldn’t tell, you didn’t get into my brother’s arms fast enough,” he cracked a grin, gesturing at the two of you. Then you realized exactly what position you were still in.

You both burst out laughing. 

“OH MY GOD!!! NOT AGAIN!!!”

When you finally settled enough to actually eat your dinner, Papyrus made sure that everyone had everything they needed and turned on the television. You got nice and cozy on the recliner, tucking your legs up beside you while you waited for the show to begin. There were a ton of flashing colors and sparkles on top of a catchy little jingle with the title screen following, ‘MTT’S Menu Mania!’ A square little box rolled on the screen and started their hosting performance immediately. For a box, that thing sure had charisma. 

“Mettaton, huh? Are they a monster celebrity?”

“HE CERTAINLY IS! THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS, BUT HE HAS MANY OTHERS!” You smiled at Papyrus down at the table and returned to the TV, where the rules were being explained. 

“It’s a cooking  _ and _ quiz show? That’s so cool! I love shows like this!” you enthused as Papyrus sniffled into his pasta.

“HAVE I MENTIONED I ALSO LOVE YOU?” Sans snorted from the couch and slurped up another mouthful of ketchup noodles. Together, you watched the show and ate your dinner. You and Papyrus would scream or groan at a contestant that was being an utter fool-- You could  _ not _ bake a cake in nine minutes! Why would you even try?! Sans would crack his usual one liners and you’d struggle not to do a spit take. By the end of the night, you were sure that he was trying his best to get you to do exactly that, but you’d won that fight. 

Long after you’d finished your food, and many episodes of MTT later, you were nearly falling asleep in the skeletons’ home. 

“i think the human needs to go home, paps,” Sans prodded gently. “look at her.” Indeed, you were staring vaguely at some spot or another, just trying to keep your eyes open every time they started to fall shut. 

“OH!” Sans raised his fingers to shush him. “Oh. I Suppose I Should Take Her Home. Do You Think She Can Stay Sitting Up For The Ride?” 

“nah. shouldn’t risk it. i’ll take her home. just tell me where she lives.” He relayed the address, then moved to gently shake you to a more awake state and whisper shouted his goodbye at you, moving in for a hug. You wrapped your arms around him and mumbled sleepily as you started to wake up. 

“It was fun tonight, sorry ‘m fallin’ asleep ‘n shit. Let’s watch more MTT stuff later Pap, please?”

“Of Course! Goodnight Friend, I Will Text You Tomorrow.” 

“Aren’t you takin’ me home?” 

“nope. my job tonight, you’re too sleepy to take another ride kiddo.” 

“Oh, okay. Night Pap.” You stood and went to get your things in the entryway, slipping your shoes on lazily. You hoped you weren’t walking, because like hell were you gonna bend over and tie those laces right now. 

“‘M ready.” Sans laughed.

“you look like you’re ready for bed. c’mon.” He offered out his hand to you and you took it, not resisting as he pulled you in close and wrapped an arm around your waist. “hold on tight, pal. you ready?” Despite not understanding, you obliged and wove your fingers into the back of the skeleton’s sweatshirt. You leaned in to the fuzzy collar and hummed your agreement. 

“here we go.”

The next thing you knew, you were standing in your bedroom. It had felt like you were floating, the way you feel just before you fall asleep-- So you figured you must have fallen asleep at some point in Sans’ car. You unwound yourself from holding onto the skeleton and shifted to give him a proper hug instead of just clinging to him. 

“Thanks, Sans. G’night.”

“get some rest, before you go askin’ me to check if there’s  _ monsters _ under your bed,” he grinned. You managed a half ass slap to his arm as you laughed. 

“That’s it, I’m going to bed.” You kicked your shoes into the corner and promptly turned to fall onto your bed. In the darkness of your room and behind your eyelids, you sensed a faint glow in your room. The soft light lulled you to sleep even faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up with a cooking show name is harder than it has any god given right to be.


	5. Chapter 5

_ GOOD MORNING HUMAN! I HOPE YOU DID NOT HAVE A ROUGH RIDE WITH SANS. _

_ LAST NIGHT WAS EXCELLENT! I CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK. _

You stared sleepily at your phone, trying to make out the meaning of the text. Your brain had a bit of catching up to do to your senses just yet. But before you could use your logic and reason, you sent a response anyway.

_ You know we don’t have to hangout on pasta night only, right Pap? We could have a movie marathon this weekend if you want. More MTT? :) _

Your brain had finally woken up and realized what you’d done-- Committed yourself to more socialization. It was screaming at you to back out while you could and reminding you of how exhausted you’d be afterwards, but you casually told your own brain to go shove it. You hadn’t had good friends in a long time and like hell were you going to let your anxiety keep you from seeing them when you craved their company. Besides-- Clearly, you felt safe and unguarded enough to fall asleep around Sans, and Papyrus was even more of a comforting presence. Despite his volume. 

You rolled yourself out of bed before you could get too wrapped up in your own thoughts and handled the morning routine. Over breakfast you looked back at your phone.

_ WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA!  _

_ I DID NOT WANT TO OVERWHELM YOU TOO SOON, I KNOW MY PRESENCE IS VERY GREAT AND YOU HAVE A SMALL TOLERANCE FOR SUCH THINGS. _

Papyrus was an absolute treasure. You smiled softly down at the message, grateful that someone was so willing to understand and consider your limitations and boundaries. 

_ I think you’re pretty great too, Pap. How about I bring snacks?  _

_!!! :) :) :) :) :) _

_ PLEASE DO SHARE WITH US YOUR HUMAN SNACKS! I TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT WITH FOOD, FRIEND!  _

It would be the first time in a while you had weekend plans. 

It would be the first time in even longer that you were actually looking forward to them. 

At work, the first thing you noticed was the collection of new machinery in your lab. Looks like you’d be sharing lab space with Dr. Alphys in the micro department after all. You clocked in and put away your things, saying a morning greeting to Andrea while Alphys was nowhere to be seen.

“She and Toriel are in a quick briefing with Mike. Some other tall goat guy is there too-- Apparently he’ll be our first test subject,” Andrea explained. “They gotta go do some paperwork for the voluntary procedure stuff so we cover our asses.”

“Gotcha. Better safe than sorry, right?” You were probably going to focus on getting the monster testing done first when the legal measures finished up. In the meantime, you checked on your incubating plates and pulled out a few that had a satisfactory number of colonies growing. 

“‘Drea, I got a couple samples ready for ID tests. You wanna do the hemolysis or the resistance tests?”

“Dibs on resistance!”  You liked hemolysis testing better anyway. After grabbing a few blood agar plates from the fridge and a sterile inoculation loop, you set to work, happily streaking across the red gel of the agar with your mystery bacteria. The one thing you would never like about the job was the smell of burning agar when you had to sterilize your loop again-- But you’d almost learned to block it out at this point.

“I have literally never seen someone happier to handle bacteria than you, ___,” Mike chuckled from the entryway. 

“You haven’t seen her coo to it about how pretty it is.”

“Hey! Let me live, Andrea!” You all shared a laugh, Toriel included, and that was when you noticed her presence behind Mike. He stepped aside and gestured to his little group. 

“This is the team you’ll be working with at first to test monster resistance. ___, I’m sure you remember Dr. Alphys,” he pointed, making sure Andrea could distinguish her, “And Toriel. And this right here is Asgore-- This will be the donor for all your samples and the patient for all your tests.” You felt your throat tighten at the sight of the huge monster there in the doorway, stepping forward as his name was called. 

He was easily eight foot. He was broad, beefy, and those horns weren’t anything to mess with either. 

“Howdy! Nice to meet you both,” he smiled warmly. “You just heard, but my name is Asgore. I hope I can help.” His eyes shift almost pleadingly to Toriel, who looks less than pleased with the man-- Who actually  _ looks chided. _ Maybe they’re family? Either way, if he was wrapped around Toriel’s paw, you didn’t feel like you had to worry about him overly much. 

“Nice to meet you too, Asgore,” you return. “I’d offer you a handshake, but trust me when I say you do not want any of this stuff on you, bud.” He actually laughs and the sound reminds you of your dad.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

There’s some more explanations of procedures and protocols before Toriel, Mike, and Asgore leave the lab for the day. Alphys is like a whirlwind over at her machines, notes and papers flying everywhere although you note that to her, its an organized chaos. When you met her, this was never the woman you would have thought to be behind those glasses. The machines were way beyond the knowledge of either you or Andrea, so you just let Alphys be unless she stopped to ask you questions about humans. The actual tests would begin next week-- You all needed time to prepare. In the meantime you still had hospital samples to take care of.

By the end of the day, you were ready to get your ass home. You still had to make sure that you had some decent clothes to sleep in at Sans’ and Papyrus’ house and pack an overnight bag. Sure, it’d just be a sleepover-- But you knew all too well how things liked to go wrong. Better to be prepared.

What you definitely weren’t prepared for was a small skeleton waiting outside your hospital as you stepped out.

“hiya, kiddo.” He was leaning casually against your car, hands shoved in his pockets. It was just Sans, this wasn’t unusual, but it made your stomach twist uncomfortably. 

“H-Hey, I mean, hey Sans. What’re you doing here?”

“stopped by to see how Alphys’ research was going earlier. then i remembered you worked together now,” he started,”and i figured i’d take ya to grillby’s after your shift. on me.” Grillby’s. The monster bar Sans performed at, if you remembered. It wasn’t like you couldn’t use a bite to eat, and if Sans was by your side you might feel okay. 

“Okay. Did you drive? I can follow you if you want.” He snorts. 

“don’t worry, i know a shortcut or two. c’mon.” A bony hand withdraws from his pocket, offered out to you. You slide your hand into his curiously. Then he wraps an arm around your waist and whispers, “hold tight.”

All at once you feel like you’re floating and whirring. The twilight is suddenly gone, replaced with a split second of what feels like black emptiness- No, emptiness is wrong. There’s something like little lights, stars maybe, but they whip past too quickly to make out. Before you can even gasp you’re standing in front of a quaint little storefront with a neon sign.

Grillby’s.

“What the hell,” you breathe sharply, “Was that?” Sans raises his brow bone in your direction but doesn’t answer, opening the door to the bar for you. In your daze you just waltz in and follow the skeleton right up to the counter where you both claim a stool. 

“Wait, seriously, what just happened?”

“don’t tell me you don’t remember how you got home last night, starlight,” he chuckles, gazing sidelong at you. “that wasn’t your first ride at the rodeo.” You stare at him for a solid minute, completely bewildered. It was true you didn’t really recall the ride home, but you thought you were just tired, not that you had literally transported with Sans directly into your bedroom. 

“Holy shit that is amazing,” comes the enthralled whisper. “Can all monsters do that?”

“nope. don’t know anyone else who knows shortcuts like i do.” He sounds almost proud of the fact, if the grin on his face is anything to go by. Your fingers dig into the shoulder of his hoodie and turn him towards you. For a split second you see his eyelights flicker, and he returns your pointed stare with a raised brow. 

“Dude. That is. Amazeballs.” He snorts and shrugs you off. You don’t overlook the fact that he’s still smiling, and his cheeks have that dusty blue tinge on them. But before you can press the issue and ask more about his magic, a monster made entirely of fire approaches the counter. 

“hey, grillbz. this is ___, good friend of mine. she’s on my tab when she comes in, cool?” You aren’t really sure what response the crackling of his flames means, but Sans seems pleased. The heat radiating off of Grillby isn’t as intense as you’d expect, but it’s pleasant, like an electric blanket in the winter. 

“yeah, the one paps met. she’s working with alphys and tori.” He sparked intensely, turning his face (? where his glasses rested, at least) towards you. The attention spooks you a bit-- After all, you can’t even understand Grillby, and those sparks seemed dangerous. But Sans chuckles low and gentle beside you and the sound is calming. 

“the usual is good. but i think she likes chocolate. you like chocolate dontcha, kiddo?” 

“Oh! Uh, yeah, I love chocolate. I used to make myself sick on it when I was a kid,” you laugh nervously, hoping the situation is alright. Being completely unaware of what’s happening around you makes you uneasy. The flames at the top of Grillby’s form dip forward and he disappears in the back. You look carefully at Sans, feeling your gut tighten. 

“you look like we’re gonna eat you, kid, relax,” he chuckles reassuringly. “grillbz doesn’t speak real well, but when you know him as long as i have, you can sort of read the fire. he likes ya, don’t worry.”

“Oh thank god,” you let out a breath, slumping against the counter. “I thought the popping was like, a threat. Thought he was mad you asked him to make me not pay or something.” 

Then Sans bursts out laughing with his hands clutching his gut. 

“Hey! That’s a perfectly valid concern!”

“sure, sure,” the skeleton hums, wiping tears from his eyes. “maybe i should clarify-- grillby  _ really _ likes you. appreciates the effort you’re makin’ for us. he wouldn’t make a person like you pay if you ordered everything off the menu.” You visibly relax and Sans continues, “the popping thing means he’s excited. he’s happy you’re here, starlight.” 

“O-Oh. Well. If you’re sure he’s not mad or anything…” Your face feels warm, and it isn’t just the heat in the bar. 

“nah. he might look tough, but he’s not real  _ hot headed. _ ” A hand claps over your mouth before you can laugh too loudly, and Sans has that shit eating grin plastered on his face. 

“Yeah? Guess you just gotta  _ warm up _ to him huh?” you shoot back. There’s a feeling of satisfaction and warmth watching your skeleton friend chuckle at your shitty banter. Suddenly you realize that you’re slightly missing the chagrin of Papyrus, and you’re reminded of your movie marathon. “Hey, did Pap tell you about this weekend? I’m bringing snacks. Is there anything you want me to bring, Sans?”

He hums, idly grabbing a bottle of ketchup from the counter and taking a quick swig before giving you a response.

“i heard. and nah, you don’t need to bring nothin’ in particular. we got a couple extra blankets lyin around, but fair warning, i think Paps will insist you take his bed. since you’re a guest n all.”

“What? No. I’m not kicking him out of his own bed, I’m perfectly happy with a blanket on the floor,” you shake your head. It was true-- You were notorious in college for just falling asleep in the hallway waiting for your next class to begin. 

“please, like we’d let you sleep on the floor. you’re not getting out of this without at least the couch,” Sans waves you off. 

“Fine, then I’m just gonna take total ownership of your living room set and make a cool fort for movie night. Which you’re both welcome in.” You cross your arms with an air of satisfaction from your solution, and Sans laughs quietly. 

“you’re something else, kiddo.” You want to ask exactly what he means by that, but Grillby returns from the kitchen with food and drink for the two of you. He sets down two plates of fries, a mug, and a glass of water on the counter. Both drinks are set in front of you. You peer into the mug.

“Is...is this hot chocolate?” Grillby crackles in response. 

“yep. grillbz makes the good stuff.”  In the surface of the cup, there’s a little smiley face drawn on with whipped cream. You haven’t taken a single sip but you feel your body flood with warmth. 

“You didn’t have to,” you smile gently at the flame monster, “Thanks, Grillby.” He bows his head again and disappears further down the counter to deal with some more customers. Careful not to burn yourself, you lift the cup to you lips and test the heat and taste with a small sip. 

It’s absolutely divine. The drink is smooth, warm, and not overly rich. There’s a taste in there that you can’t quite place, but your palate isn’t really great to begin with. 

“This is so good,” you sigh happily. Sans chuckles beside you, reaching for a new ketchup bottle.

“he put in a little shot for you. nothing too strong, but don’t worry. monster alcohol isn’t like human alcohol and he knows what he’s doing.” You tilt your head, looking down at your mug and then to your plates. 

“Oh, right,” you click your tongue. “It’s made of magic, right? I’ve never had monster food before.”

“yep. want some ketchup?” He offers you the bottle that he hasn’t drank from, which you gladly take and start pouring on your fries.

The entire bottle is on your plate in seconds. 

“Ah, shit.” Beside you, Sans snickers. You sit up on your stool a little bit and fail to notice as Sans starts to push his plate towards you. 

“Hey, Grillby?”

“you can have mine--

“Can you bring me a fork please?” Sans stares at you, speechless as Grillby fulfills your request and hands you a fork. You stab at the fries on your plate and mix the ketchup around a little more evenly before shoving soaked fries into your mouth. Then you notice that Sans has grown quiet, just watching you eat.

You want to ask him what’s wrong, but you took a big bite. You sheepishly cover your mouth with your hand to talk with food in your mouth. 

“Wh’s wron?” Your voice seems to snap him out of whatever he’d been thinking about, and he turns to his own plate. 

“nothin’, i’m great.” He takes a huge gulp of ketchup and you shrug, happy to enjoy your little meal. 

You can’t tell, but at the end of the bar, Grillby is smiling. 

You may not notice the faint shift in Sans’ eyelights, but Grillby notices.


	6. Chapter 6

When Sans teleported you back to your car, you realized what he had meant when he said monster alcohol wasn’t quite the same. You’d only had a shot, but you knew you were quite a lightweight. And yet, you didn’t feel at all tipsy. Instead you felt warm and content, your skin tingling pleasantly like you’d just been massaged and your anxious heart at ease. 

Maybe you would frequent Grillby’s a little more often.

With a smile and a hug, you bid goodnight to Sans and sent along a hello for his brother. 

Once you get home, you start on the task you originally planned for the night and grab a duffel bag from your closet. You’d need clothes, pajamas, your medicine… Basic hygiene products too. Somehow, you doubted that skeletons would need or have contact solution for any reason. And you were also going to throw in a few of your favorite blankets to supply the fort with. 

Did you hoard soft blankets? Maybe. It wasn’t the worst thing to collect.

You gathered up everything except for the snacks and your pajamas. It had been a while since you’d been in pajamas in front of guys who weren’t related to you, and you suddenly felt self conscious about it. Not that they would judge you on your appearance, they saw you in scrubs and a messy ponytail all the time, but you were worried you might make them uncomfortable without your bra. 

You were too big to go without a bra, and too big to keep it on comfortably all night long. But you were going to be in a fort with two skeletons surrounded by a ton of blankets too-- You didn’t want to get too hot. 

Then you wondered if monsters even sexualized breasts the way humans did. If you really thought about it, Sans and Papyrus were really skeletons-- Breasts theoretically shouldn’t get them too hot and bothered. With a sigh of relief, you picked out a black tank and plaid shorts. The shirt would hang a little loose so you wouldn’t just have your tits out everywhere, and you were satisfied with that. Now that you were finished, you let yourself flop onto the couch and check your phone. 

_ SANS TOLD ME YOU WENT TO GRILLBY’S! I APOLOGIZE TO YOUR INTESTINES FOR THE GREASE! _

_ ALSO. AS YOUR FRIEND, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK ABOUT WHAT YOU DID AT GRILLBY’S? SANS SEEMS UNUSUALLY QUIET. HE IS NOT PUNNING AT HIS USUAL FREQUENCY. _

_ DID SOMETHING HAPPEN? _

You looked at the screen with a little pout. As far as you knew, you and Sans had had a good time together.

_ I don’t think so? He introduced me to Grillby. We had some fries and Grillby gave me a drink. He got kinda quiet when the food came but I thought he was just eating.  _

You scrolled through a couple of your usual channels to gauge what was on TV tonight before settling on Cutthroat Kitchen, what you fondly thought of as Mario Party and Chopped’s love child. You loved both of their parents, too. 

_ I SEE! I DO NOT SEE, BUT WELL, I AM GLAD NOTHING BAD HAPPENED BETWEEN YOU TWO. _

_ I AM ALSO NOW EXTRA GLAD WE HAVE A MOVIE MARATHON PLANNED! SANS HAS THESE MOODS SOMETIMES. I HAVE NOTICED THAT YOU IN GENERAL CHEER HIM UP SO I AM GLAD YOU WILL BE WITH US AGAIN SOON.  _

You felt your heart clench. Maybe that was why Sans came to you today? It didn’t really occur to you that he would have a positive reaction to your presence-- You just thought he happened to be there, like he said. Then you wondered how often the skeleton had these ‘moods’.

_ Me too, Pap. _

The next day, your conversation with Papyrus carried over into your work as you thought about monsters. You approached Alphys carefully, hoping not to startle her too much. 

“Alphys?” She jerked a little and tore her gaze away from her notes.

“C-can I help you with something, __?” 

“I had a question for you about monsters.” She smiled, relaxing a bit as she gestured for you to sit down. “How much do you know about human mental illness?”

“O-oh, well. A lot of it has to do with c-chemical imbalances or improper signal c-conductions. But more of it is s-something your research hasn’t exactly pinned d-down yet, right?” Shit. She really knew her stuff, even for a species that wasn’t her own. You nodded and got back to your original point.

“Yeah. So for example, depression has a couple of causes we know about. Most of them are imbalances of chemical compounds in our bodies,” you explained. “But what about monsters? You guys are made of magic, right? How do you treat depression in a monster if there’s no hormones or chemicals to correct?” Alphys smiled uncomfortably, shifting in her seat. 

“W-well, that’s...an excellent question! We, um, haven’t devoted much research into that area. Most monsters t-try their best with therapy if they have a mental illness, but… A lot of our focus was just on b-breaking the barrier, so…” They didn’t have a lot of need for doctors underground, with most monster food being able to heal anything minor. And several monsters knew healing magic. It was a sad state for monsters, but you understood the priorities in their research. You smiled with a certain sort of disappointment and nodded. 

“I was worried it might be something like that. Thanks, Alphys.” The lizard woman perked back up a bit at your gratitude.

“O-of course! But, can I ask w-why you would want to know something l-like that?” You considered your answer carefully. Alphys knew Sans, and you didn’t want to worry her if you were completely off base with your concerns. After all, she had known him far longer than you. With a wave of a hand, you swept your real concerns away with a slight distortion of the truth. 

“I had to refill my antidepressants yesterday, and I was wondering if monsters had anything like that to help them,” you offered in response. “I remembered how hard it was when I was unmedicated.” Her gaze softened as she looked at you. 

“I-It is hard,” she murmured softly. “T-Thank you for worrying about us, __.” Then she was quiet for a moment, looking at absolutely anything that wasn’t you. You hoped you hadn’t invaded her personal boundaries on accident, but then she spoke up again. “W-when… When we get done with our project now, w-would you like to work with me on trying to help monsters w-with mental illness?” 

Your heart soared.

“I’m not really sure how qualified I am for that sort of research, but I’d definitely love to help if I can!” 

“Great! I’ll, um, I’ll speak to M-Mike and Toriel. I-If you don’t have qualifications, I’ll see what we can do. I think it’d be good t-to have someone with h-human experience with mental illness like you on the team, at the very least.” 

“Thanks, Alphys. I’m really glad I asked about this.”

“M-me too.”

The rest of the workweek passed by without too much hassle. Asgore came in for the first round of tests-- You drew his blood (or whatever ran through his body), took small tissue samples, and started doing simple patch tests on his skin. Before you introduced anything into his blood or digestive system, you wanted to see how monster skin would react to different human allergens. You found out that Asgore was an absolute teddy bear, as well. Despite his huge stature, he was a little uncomfortable with the large needles in the lab, and sheepishly requested to hold the hand of whoever wasn’t performing the procedure. He didn’t crush your hand like you expected-- His grip was gentle. You realized that all he wanted was the physical reassurance of another person, and you didn’t mind helping at all. Alphys completely understood your initial fear of him, but reassured you that he was honestly a good man. You felt better that she wasn’t angry you had been afraid of her friend and old boss. 

When you clocked out on Friday, you grabbed your duffle bag from your locker and headed out to the hospital entrance. Since you were staying the night with the skeletons, you left your car at home and Sans was coming to pick you up. 

You had to admit you were kind of excited to teleport again. 

But more importantly, you wanted to see if Sans would improve. Papyrus kept you up to date on his brother’s wellbeing, and while he’d returned to his normal volume of puns and terrible one liners, he seemed a bit distracted. 

Your concerns aside, there was also a bubbling feeling of excitement. You were genuinely looking forward to seeing Sans and Papyrus again and spending an extended amount of time with them. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt like this. It was almost a sort of giddiness. 

Sans stood out by the parking lot, hands casually in his pockets as usual. 

“Hi, Sans!” You smiled and leaned into his side, half hugging him with your bag in the way. 

“heya, kid. someone give you coffee today or something?” he chuckled, ruffling your hair with his bony fingers. You didn’t bother pulling away, instead shifting to get a better grip on the skeleton before you departed. 

“Nah, I can’t drink coffee. Can’t I just be happy to see you?” You felt his chuckle more than you heard it this time. 

“i mean you can be, but hey.” He shrugged and shifted his arm around your waist again, holding on and pressing you into him more securely. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

You tried this time to make out the lights better. It went just as fast as last time, but you did manage to distinguish a few colors before you felt your feet on the ground again. 

“Seriously, that is so cool,” you sighed reverently. Sans hummed lowly and headed into the living room to let his brother know you were here. You slid your shoes off and followed close behind, carefully setting your bag down-- Didn’t wanna squish the snacks.

“HUMAN! I AM DELIGHTED YOU’RE HERE!” Papyrus quickly swept you up into his arms and swung you around in his excitement. It still shocked you how powerful he was, especially to just throw you around like that. 

“Hi, Pap!” you laughed as you enjoyed the twirls. “I can’t believe how strong you are! Most people can’t pick me up, but this is fun.” His eyelights looked down at your face with a bit of confusion.

“HOW ARE THEY UNABLE TO PICK YOU UP? YOU’RE QUITE LIGHT. EVEN SANS COULD DO IT!” He put you down so you could talk with more ease, but not before adding, “AND I WILL PICK YOU UP MORE OFTEN IF IT IS AMUSING TO YOU!”

“People aren’t that strong, really. I don’t know how in the world we ever won a war against you guys-- Maybe just sheer number?” you theorized with a shrug. Sans, who had already started getting comfortable on the couch, cut in.

“s’not about ‘strong’,” he explained with a yawn. “monsters are hypersensitive to intent-- you humans wanted to do some real harm, and it made your attacks a lot stronger. plus you had magic back then.” You felt your smile twitch uneasily as you looked carefully over at the smaller skeleton.

“First, so you mean that if we have harmful intentions, it makes us hurt you more, and second, we had  _ magic _ ?” 

“yep.”

“DO HUMANS NOT HAVE MAGIC ANYMORE?” Papyrus asked, looking at you curiously.

“Not at all. Huh. I’m, uh, gonna go put some of the cold snacks away, and I’ll be right back okay?” After letting them know, you grabbed the ice cream from your bag and headed into the kitchen. You could hear Papyrus and Sans debating on what movie you would watch together first, and about how much help they would provide in building the fort, and you tried to calm your racing heart.

**_You felt your sins crawling on your back._ **


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I have delayed the update to make the suspense better? Probably. But I got on a roll and finished it so here y'all are.

You might have stuck your head in the freezer for a bit longer than necessary in the hope that it would cool you off. You felt too hot and sticky all of a sudden. After a few deep breaths, you decided it wasn’t going to get any better and returned to the living room.

“FRIEND! ARE YOU READY TO ASSEMBLE YOUR GREAT BLANKET FORT?” Papyrus asked cheerfully, holding a few extra pillows and a blanket in his hands. A small tug at the corners of your mouth would serve as a smile.

“Sure, Pap. I got some blankets too-- A few of my favorites.” You started to reach into your bag and shift through your snacks and other clothes while Papyrus rolled his brother off the couch after some wasted effort to get him up on his own. Sans nabbed one of their blankets and wrapped himself up the floor while he waited. Apparently he wasn’t going to help-- But that was okay. You didn’t want to get too many of you involved and someone get hurt.

You set your blankets on the pile of pillows and stood beside the couch, surveying the furniture and making a blueprint in your head. 

“Hmm… Okay, let’s move the coffee table off to the side. Then we can move the chairs in front of the couch. Do you guys have a broom or something I can pop the handle off of?” 

“YES! I WILL GET IT!” He dashed off and you smiled after him tiredly. You cracked your back, then started to carefully tug the coffee table out of the way.

You couldn’t help but feel like Sans was watching you.

Instead of lingering on it and starting a new panic, you tried repositioning the chairs. They were a little sturdier than you’d expected, and you only managed to get them to move a little bit with each push.

“‘sokay to ask for help, kiddo.” Sans was still sitting on the floor all cozy in his blanket, so you narrowed your eyes at him, helplessly confused. He wasn’t making any move to give you a hand with the moving and you didn’t expect him to come out of that burrito.

“Um, will you help me? Please?” One skeletal hand poked out of the blanket and raised. You noticed his eyelight shift abruptly to an electric blue color that radiated light. The air pressure in front of you changed, snapping your attention back to the chair that was no longer in front of you. 

“i’ll let ya push it where you want. go ahead and try it again.” You swallowed. Was it safe to touch? You assumed this was Sans’ magic, and possibly an extension of him, after all. Hesitating, you put your hand on the chair and looked back to the skeleton. “go on.” When you pushed this time, the chair was almost too easy to move.

Once you got everything settled, with Sans’ help, you sat back and took in the outline of your fort. 

“Your magic is really cool,” you noted, peeking around the corner for Papyrus. “I had no idea you could do something like that.” Sans snorted and shrugged inside the blanket.

“sure can. can do this, too.” You felt yourself enveloped in warmth and suddenly, you were being spun around slowly in the air like a little doll.

“Oh my god, this is so cool! Can you go faster? Please?” His grin stretched out as he obliged, watching you laugh and enjoy yourself up off the ground. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE HUMAN, SANS?”

“nothin’ bro. just looked like she wanted to go for a spin, is all.” 

“SANS!!” The tall skeleton set the newly acquired broom aside and reached up to get you down. You felt yourself start to panic as his hands stretched towards you and froze entirely in his grasp, eyes wide. “YOU COULD MAKE HER SICK LIKE THAT. HUMANS ARE VERY DELICATE, WE MUST BE CAREFUL!” He held you close to his side, protectively, but you wanted nothing more than to run.

“P--Please let me go, Pap,” you choked out quickly. “Pap, please.” His hands were immediately off and he took an almost comical step back, glaring at his brother. 

“Are You Alright, Friend?” He was so gentle. So soft and sweet-- You felt absolutely terrible. Swallowing heavily, you forced a wary smile up at the skeleton and ran a hand through your hair. 

“I’m… I’m fine. I guess I got a little sick up there after all,” you reassured him. There was no way that you could say anything to either skeleton. 

“SANS!”

“I’ll be okay, Pap, don’t be mad, I asked him to go faster,” you interjected quickly. Your hand reached out to soothe him, but at the last second you realized what you were doing and wrenched your hand back. “It’s okay, I’m fine now. Just needed some solid ground.”

The room fell quiet for a moment. Papyrus glanced unhappily between you and his brother, unconvinced that you were really alright. You couldn’t look at anything but the wall, and Sans stared at you carefully.

_ Watching. _

“Uh, did you get the broom or whatever, Pap?” The tension in the room shattered as Papyrus smiled back at you.

“ALTHOUGH I AM UNSURE WHY YOU REQUIRE SUCH A THING, I HAVE BROUGHT IT!” he said proudly, grabbing it up and offering it out to you. “PLEASE DO WITH IT AS YOU WILL!”

You felt yourself smile, carefully taking the rod. 

“Thanks, Pap. Wanna grab a couple of pillows for me?” With Papyrus on pillows and you on blankets, you stepped into the center of your little construct. “Just lay ‘em out on the floor so we can be nice and comfy, okay?” You spread out a fluffy blanket and let Papyrus arrange the pillows as you set up a few blankets on the couch, then grabbed the broom stick. Once the floor was set, you knelt, holding the broom to the ground. “Lay out the blanket over the back of the couch and let it rest on this, alright?” He was happy to help you and followed instruction while you crawled back out of your new ‘tent’. The two of you tucked in the sides over the chairs, and stepped back to admire your work. 

“not bad, kid.” You smiled over your shoulder at the skeleton burrito and gestured towards the fort. 

“If you think this is good, wait until you realize I made it so you can still lay on the couch.”

Suddenly he wasn’t in his spot with the blanket, and you looked towards the fort. 

“i’m moving in here, just so you know.” Papyrus starting shouting at him about a proper home, but you just laughed. 

“I can’t believe you just teleported eight feet to the couch.” Still chuckling, you moved towards your bag to get out your other snacks-- Popcorn, cookies, and candy. You chose all of your favorites to share with your skeleton friends and hoped that they would like the selection. “Do you have a movie ready, Pap?”

“AH, YES I DO! I REMEMBER YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU ENJOY ROMANCE AND COMEDY. METTATON HAS MANY OF THESE MOVIES! HOWEVER, I’VE CHOSEN ONE I THINK SUITS YOUR TASTE BEST.” You couldn’t help but smile. 

_ You didn’t deserve them. _

“Thanks, Pap. I’m sure I’ll love it.” You crawled into the fort and laid down on your stomach, propping your head up on a pillow on your arm after wrapping yourself in your favorite blanket. After he got the DVD player set on the right disc, Papyrus joined you in the fort, leaning against the front of the couch with a blanket in his lap and a pillow in his arms. 

You’d pass snacks between the skeletons, careful to touch them as little as possible. Sans was more than happy to shove popcorn in his face, and Papyrus liked to savor your candies. You still weren’t really sure how either of them managed to eat. 

The first movie was good-- Papyrus had chosen well to suit your interests. The humor was witty and the relationship was full of only the best tropes, the kind that made your stomach feel warm and fuzzy. Overall, you all had something to enjoy-- Sans got some good snark and Papyrus delighted in the blossoming romance between the characters.

“That was a good one Pap. What you got next?” you asked, stretching yourself out lazily. 

Then you felt your feet hit bone. 

You scrambled to pull your feet back to you at once and sit up, eyes wide and trained on the skeleton monster. 

“Oh my god, Papyrus, I’m so sorry,” you rushed, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Both skeletons looked bewildered. Papyrus’ jaw was hanging, unable to really form a response, and even Sans sat up to look at you. “I’m so sorry, I-- I didn’t realize, oh god. Please tell me you’re okay.” Your heart was racing, hands trembling and hovering over your friend like you wanted to help him.

“I-- YES? I’M FINE,” Papyrus said slowly. “FRIEND? ARE  _ YOU  _ ALRIGHT?” Before you could protest, Sans had teleported himself to your side on the floor. 

“alright. what’s up, kiddo? ya been acting weird n’ jumpy all night.”

“I…” You sighed and lowered yourself onto your thighs, wrapping your blanket back around you protectively. “I’m fine. I’m sorry.”

“____. c’mon. you can talk to us.” He reached out to put a comforting hand on your shoulder, but you jerked back. “...kid?” 

“I…”

“Friend?” Papyrus asked quietly, leaning over to try and look at your face. He sounded so sad, so concerned, and it broke your heart. You couldn’t let them care about you like this when you could hurt them. You swallowed. 

“So… Um! It’s story time, I guess,” you laughed nervously. The skeletons shared a look, but didn’t interrupt you. “I, uh. Well. I was really just in the wrong place at the wrong time a few years back.”

“My ex was walking me out to my car at night. I got in, and he started to walk back to his house and this guy jumps out. Tries to mug both of us.” You felt the air around you thicken, your throat tighten, and your fists curl into the blanket. But they needed to know. They needed to know what you did.

“I managed to lock the door before he got to me. The guy punches my ex in the face. And I’m sitting there, right? My ex yelled at me to drive away and go get help, so I did. I mean, my ex understood how shocked I was and he wasn’t mad or anything, but I felt bad.” 

“Why? That Is A Normal--”

“I felt bad. Because I wasn’t just sitting there out of shock. I was waiting. I was waiting… I was waiting for the mugger to back off on my ex just enough for me to run him over with my car.” You laughed again, but the sound was cracked, and you stared down at the blanketed floor. The skeletons are silent.

“I never told him. I never told anyone-- I just let them think I was too shocked to really respond. I think about that sometimes, how my first response was to just  _ straight up murder someone _ .” Another laugh, more broken, and tears start to fall down your face. 

“And I-- If I have that sort of instinct, that  _ intent _ in me,” you whisper, your voice cracking, “To hurt someone... What if- What if I hurt you?” A choked sob escapes as you look up at your friends, tears streaming down your face. “I don’t want to, I don’t want to hurt you!” You can’t bear the way they’re looking at you so you bury your face in your hands, sobbing quietly into them. 

Then you feel yourself being pulled. You’re sure you’re going to be thrown out. 

Instead you’re seated on a pillow in Papyrus’ lap. His arms wrap tightly around you, and you can feel Sans leaning in and overlapping his brother with his own hug. 

“You Were Not Doing Anything Wrong. That Person Intended To Harm You-- And You Wanted To Fight Back,” Papyrus said gently, leaning his skull onto the top of your head. 

“you aren’t gonna hurt us. you’d have to actively want to hurt us-- you won’t do anything on accident kid, i promise.” 

“How-- How can you know that?” you sniffle, still deathly afraid to touch either skeleton. “I don’t want to hurt you…” Sans hummed quietly, pulling back just a bit and shooting a glance at his brother. 

“how about this?” he started, carefully turning your face towards him. “look at me, starlight. if you really want, i’ll take a look directly at your soul.” You paused, trying fruitlessly to wipe at your tears as you met Sans’ unusually serious face. 

“My...my soul? If-- If you want. I’m sure you can see a lot from that, right?” If you remembered, the human souls were previously considered to be the key to unlocking the Underground before Frisk came along. 

“sure can, starlight,” Sans nodded. “okay. hold real still.” His eyelight shifted to that blue as he stared carefully at you and observed. Suddenly your chest felt somewhat tight and you let out a startled gasp. 

“Don’t Be Alarmed,” Papyrus soothed gently, “That Is Just How He Examines Souls. You Won’t Be Harmed And It Will Go Away.” You swallowed, watching Sans for any indicator of what your soul looked like. Would it be crawling with darkness? Would he see everything you had done? You had no idea how this worked. 

Then Sans chuckled. 

“you’re really something, kid.” The way he said it, as if your soul was something good and kind-- It almost made you feel better.

“What Do You See?”

“she’s teal, bro. know what that makes her?” 

“Wait, what? My soul has a color?”

“Isn’t Teal A Mix Of Green And Blue?” Sans smiled over at his brother, and his expression softened further as he looked back at you. 

“yep. human souls are colored based on dominant traits, starlight. you’re blue green.

“What does that mean, exactly?” You still felt a bit nervous. Was it bad to have two soul colors? Green was thematically associated with villains, and why were they still smiling at you?

“You Have A Kind and Patient Soul, ___.”

“kind and patient, starlight. you aren’t hurting anyone, promise.” 

Kind and patient. They were good traits. Sans had looked at your soul, and it wasn’t filled with darkness. You felt some of the tension leave your body.

“Really?” you asked quietly, needing the reassurance that you weren’t a demon, despite what you’d done.

“Really, Friend.” You swallowed, leaning into Sans’ hand still on your cheek and relaxed a bit. A sigh escaped as you closed your eyes. Papyrus moved to gently dab at your face with his scarf, and you felt yourself smiling tiredly and filling with warmth. 

They knew what you had done, and they still cared about you.

“why don’t you go change into your comfortable clothes and take a minute,” Sans suggested. “paps n i will bust out the ice cream for when you come back. deal?” 

“Deal.” They helped you disentangle from them and as you all left the fort, Papyrus offered you his hand to get you on your feet. You took it and squeezed. 

“Thank you. Both of you,” you smiled softly.

“Of Course! We Love You Very Much, ___.” 

“don’t worry about it, starlight.” You grabbed your clothes and headed up to the bathroom as per Sans’ suggestion. 

And while you weren’t worried about hurting them anymore, Sans was definitely worried about the purple cracks lining your soul.


	8. Chapter 8

Crying was exhausting. You splashed some water on your face in the sink to cool your flushed cheeks and looked in the mirror. You couldn’t believe you’d just had that kind of a breakdown in front of Sans and Papyrus, and not only were they still your friends, they loved you.

You smiled at your tired reflection and turned away to change. After all that nonsense, you definitely needed some relaxation and comfy clothes. Once you were bra-free and all settled in your pajamas you headed back down the stairs to overhear the skeletons talking.

“NO, I DON’T THINK SO?”

“you sure, paps? need ya to think real hard on this one.”

“I’M TRYING, BROTHER!”

“What’s up? Sans got you with one of his riddles, Pap?” you asked, fiddling with your hair. It needed to be redone-- All the tears left you with sticky little baby curls on your cheeks and it made you feel gross.

“I-- YES! I AM LOATHE TO ADMIT IT, BUT THIS IS A TRICKY ONE,” Papyrus sighed, crossing his arms. You knew he didn’t like giving up and sent him a comforting smile before turning to Sans.

“Hit me with it.” Sans glances at Papyrus and shrugs.

“what can ya hold in your right hand but not your left?”

“Uh. Oh! Your left hand?” A grin stretches out on the smaller skeleton’s face as he snaps his fingers. Papyrus just throws up his hands.

“YOU TWO ARE IMPOSSIBLE! I AM TAKING THE ICE CREAM AND LEAVING!!” He snatches up a container of ice cream (the one you had picked out for him, you notice with a flutter of delight) and exits the kitchen. It’s quiet. From here you can pick up a few sounds of the next movie menu playing, but you and Sans stand still.

“how ya doin’, starlight?” he asks carefully.

“I’m… I’m better,” you answer honestly. “Sorry about all that. I’m kind of a mess, huh?” You share a laugh as the skeleton reaches out to push away some of your sticky hair from your face. He’s giving you an out to feel okay about your breakdown and you can’t help but want to hug him.

“won’t hear any judgement from me, the skeleton living in slippers. i hear trying to control hair is just asking for a bad time, but we’ll _straighten_ it out.”

“I take it back, I’m worse.” The two of you laugh again and step into the living room before Papyrus starts yelling for you, taking along your own ice creams as you go. Rejoining Papyrus in the furniture tent is a little easier now that you’re in pajamas. You notice that Sans teleports himself back onto the couch, but he’s hanging off the front end with his feet up on the back.

“OH, FRIEND!” Papyrus starts as you start to pull your hair from its ponytail. “YOU LOOK QUITE PRETTY WITH YOUR HAIR DOWN.” You feel like you’re a mess, hair doing whatever it wants, falling in waves and curls over your back and shoulders, but his sincerity really sells it.

“T--Thanks, Pap. I don’t usually let it down for long, though. Gets in my way a lot.” Papyrus lifts a hand and starts reaching out towards you before he hesitates.

“MAY I TOUCH IT BEFORE YOU PUT IT UP AGAIN?”

“Sure.” Ordinarily, you hated when people just touched your hair. But these were your friends, and on top of it, Papyrus had the decency to ask your permission. You leaned your head out towards his hand and watched as he ran his bony fingers through it before switching tactics and brushing over the top of your head. He was eager, but gentle, and the firm motions felt nice.

“WOWIE… IT ISN’T REALLY LIKE FUR, BUT YOU ARE STILL QUITE SOFT IN YOUR OWN WAY!” Sans snorted from the couch.

“she isn’t a dog, paps. why would her hair feel like fur?”

“I DON’T KNOW! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THESE THINGS?”

“Do you wanna touch too, Sans?”

“sure.” You shifted over towards him and leaned in. Sans’ touch was almost delicate as he stroked over the top of your head. He jerked when you let out a small hum, reassuring that you were fine. “huh, paps is right.”

“SEE?”

“you got a _soft spot_ for us or somethin’, kid?”

“SANS!!” Despite Papyrus protesting, you laughed and sat back up properly.

“What can I say? I’m made of flesh, I got a lot of soft spots on me,” you shot back, patting your stomach. Laughter and huffs followed.

“WELL! I HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR YOU, FRIEND!” Before you could ask what he meant, you let out a little ‘oof’ as Papyrus tugged you towards him. He settled you on a pillow between his bent legs and pressed your back into his ribs. “NYEH HEH!”

You realized after a beat that _Papyrus_ had just gotten you with affectionate _puns_.

“i’m so proud,” Sans sniffed.

“What is happening to my life.”

“WE ARE HAPPENING TO YOUR LIFE!” Papyrus grinned. “AND THIS IS ALSO HAPPENING!” You waited for whatever he was going to do and you felt his skull bump the top of your head. Followed by the little sound of a smooch.

“FRISK HAS DONE THIS TO US MANY TIMES! IT MAKES YOU HUMANS HAPPY!” Oh he was too cute. Your face was quickly filling with color but you couldn’t help the flustered smile stretching out your cheeks and you quickly hid your face in your hands.

“i don’t think she’s happy enough yet, paps.”

“THEN I WILL DO IT MANY TIMES!” Even if you couldn’t see, you knew Sans was sporting that shit eating grin of his and watching in amusement as Papyrus smothered your face in little kisses. You squirmed in his hold, giggling and slightly embarrassed about all the attention. He kept up your special treatment until your face hurt from your laughter. “I BELIEVE YOU ARE SATISFACTORILY PLEASED NOW!”

“Yes, yes,” you chuckled, gently pushing his skull away. “I’m very happy. I’ll be happier when we start this movie and get some ice cream in my face.”

Sans fumbled with the remote-- It was his turn for the movie, apparently. He turned on one of Mettaton’s more famous stand up shows. You peeled the lid off of your tub and were grateful that it was so cold, soothing the flush on your cheeks and chest. Once Papyrus and Sans had gotten a good taste of theirs, you asked if they liked the flavors you chose.

“YES! IT IS QUITE DELICIOUS!”

“it’s not ketchup, but i’ll forgive ya this time.”

“Do either of you wanna try some of mine? It’s chocolate peanut butter swirl.”

“THAT SOUNDS ENTIRELY TOO SWEET. BEFITTING FOR YOU!” You shook your head in amusement and craned your neck towards Sans for his response.

“sure, why not.” You hummed, holding out your spoon towards him. For a split second you could swear you saw his face turn blue as he hesitated, but then the spoon was empty and you were putting it safely back into its spot in your tub.

“pretty good. i can see why you like it, starlight.”

The three of you watch Mettaton’s comedy together and eat your fill of ice cream. Once the show is over, you’re starting to get a little tired and Papyrus quickly offers to return the leftover ice cream to the freezer. You smile after him then turn directly to Sans.

“Don’t think I forgot what you had Pap do to me.” The shorter skeleton snorts, leaning his cheek into his palm as he stares lazily at you. With that stupid grin.

“with all that red still on your face, i’m sure you didn’t forget either, starlight.” Your lips press thinly, searching vainly for a retort. But you know actions speak louder than words-- And Sans needed a taste of revenge. You lean in, staring intently at his eyelights and waiting for him to crack.

“what’s up? think you can scare me like im some kinda babybones--”

You swooped in and pressed your lips to his cheek.

“Babybones? Bonehead, more like,” you counter. Grinning, you lay yourself back on the floor and get cozy with a little huff of satisfaction. Papyrus comes back a few moments later and makes sure your blanket is draped over you properly before you turn on another movie.

You doze off sometime in the middle, smiling as you hear the skeletons strikingly distinct laughs around you.

….

You’ve been asleep for about twenty minutes by Papyrus’ count. He looks back at his brother and whispers softly.

“Do You Think She’s Okay?” Sans’ sigh is wary, uncertain. But the way his brother looks at you in that moment-- He knows things will be okay.

“for now, i think she’s alright.” Papyrus lets himself relax a bit into the couch and strokes the blanket covering your sleeping form.

  
“I Want Her To Be More Than Okay, Sans.”

  
“me too, papyrus. me too.”


	9. Chapter 9

When you wake up, your eyes sting like hell. You groan quietly as you sit up and remember you never took out your contacts last night. Hopefully you didn’t do too much damage. Blinking seems to help, so you keep doing it as you look around your little tent and notice that Papyrus is gone. Sans is sprawled out on the floor next to you snoring away still. You smile down at the skeleton and shift the blanket he’s all tangled up in so it actually covers him. Careful not to disturb his rest, you crawl out of the tent and walk towards the noises in the kitchen. 

“GOOD MORNING, FRIEND!” Papyrus greets you from the stove. “DID-- DID YOU SLEEP WELL?”

“Morning, Pap,” you yawn, rubbing your face. “I slept pretty well. Are you making breakfast?”

“I AM! BUT BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE YOU AWARE THAT YOUR MAMMARY GLANDS ARE ON DISPLAY.”

You choke and quickly look down-- goddamn tank tops. One of your tits is definitely out and how did you not notice this sooner?! “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” you blurt as you shove yourself back into your shirt. “Holy shit, Papyrus, I-- I’m sorry.” The blush has already spread up to your ears and the heat is almost searing.

“NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE! IT DOESN’T BOTHER ME THAT MUCH, BUT I AM AWARE THAT HUMANS DO NOT ORDINARILY FEEL COMFORTABLE BEING EXPOSED LIKE THAT,” he explains, turning back to the stove before whatever he’s cooking burns. You take a breath and walk over to the skeleton’s side, peering into the pan. Scrambled eggs.

“Can I help with breakfast?”

“OF COURSE! I HAVE YET TO MAKE TOAST, AND I’M SURE YOU CAN DO THAT!” With a hum of agreement, you take the bread from the table and head over to the toaster. Once a few slices are down in the heat, you turn back to Papyrus.

“So… Does it not really bother you, things like that?” 

“NO! NOT AFTER I AVERT MY EYES, OBVIOUSLY.” That made sense. You weren’t sure if people walked around with their bits and pieces hanging out in the Underground, but you’d doubted that. It was more reasonable that Papyrus was just too innocent and kind to think anything of it when you walked in and flashed him on accident.

“Gotcha. I’ll try to keep the girls under better control in the future,” you laugh shyly. “What do you boys like on toast?”

“WE HAVE MANY THINGS FOR IT! SANS IS MORE PARTIAL TO BUTTER, HOWEVER. AND WHAT DO YOU WANT IN EGGS?” 

“I’m a simple girl, I’m good with salt and pepper, Pap.” You rifle through the still-labelled cabinets for some peanut butter, then grab butter and ketchup from the fridge to put on the table. The labels are nothing you’ve seen before-- Except for the ketchup. Then it strikes you that your friends are monsters and probably prefer eating monster foods. “You know, I’ve only eaten monster food once before, when I was out with Sans. It didn’t really taste all that different.”

“IT SHOULDN’T. MONSTER FOOD ON THE WHOLE IS JUST MADE OF MAGIC-- IT DOESN’T SPOIL AND IT IS EASIER TO DIGEST,” Papyrus explained over his shoulder. “BUT YOU MAY FEEL BETTER AFTER EATING MONSTER FOOD! DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF MAGIC USED TO MAKE IT, THERE ARE SEVERAL EFFECTS, BUT THE MOST COMMON IS HEALING. I HEAR IT IS VERY MUCH LIKE YOUR HUMAN ‘COMFORT FOOD’!”

“That sounds really nice, actually. All the magic you guys have is really cool-- I can’t believe humans used to have it too. We don’t know anything about it anymore.”

“IT SOUNDS QUITE SAD. DO YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE DIFFERENT COLORS OF MAGIC?” 

“You separate magic types by color?”

“YES!” You hummed and brought the toast to the table, sitting down and waiting patiently for the rest of breakfast. Papyrus was just finishing the eggs up and plating them for the three of you. “I AM PARTICULARLY INVESTED IN BLUE MAGIC, AS IS SANS!” 

“What’s blue magic?”

“BLUE MAGIC INVOLVES GRAVITY!” You gasp in realization and sit up a little straighter, looking towards the living room.

“Oh! Is that how Sans helped me move the furniture?” you ask excitedly, gaze returning to the large skeleton approaching you with food. “That was so cool! You can do that too, then? What else can you do, Papyrus?”

“ya gettin’ the kid all riled up about magic before breakfast?” Sans asks, freshly ‘ported into a chair across the table. 

“I AM TEACHING HER! HUMANS APPARENTLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MAGIC ANYMORE, BROTHER,” he laments, setting your portions of eggs out on the table. 

“well, you can teach her, i’m gonna eat.” He looks at you and stares for a second, locking your gaze. Then a bone appears next to him out of thin air. “ _ bone appetit.” _

“SANS!!! IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THIS NONSENSE!”

“Is that-- Is that a real bone?!”

“yep. paps’ missing funny bone.” The bone disappears as you snort behind your hand, throwing an apologetic glance to Papyrus. 

“That’s amazing. I mean. Not the joke part, that was terrible,” Sans waves your insincere criticism off with his normal smile, “But the bone thing! I can’t believe you can do that.” 

“THAT’S NOTHING! PREPARE YOUR EYES FOR GREATNESS, FRIEND!” With a flourish, Papyrus pulls up a flurry of bones-- Spelling out ‘COOL DUDE’ and complete with an arrow pointing towards him. He’s so proud of himself if his smirk is anything to go by. 

“That’s-- That’s so many bones! How do you control all of them at once? You guys are so cool,” you sigh reverently, grinning at the display. 

“OF COURSE WE ARE! BUT WE SHOULDN’T LET BREAKFAST ALSO BE COOL. THAT IS NOT AS GREAT.” You all settle down a bit and tuck into your food. As you’d expected, Sans douses his scramble in ketchup before he eats and you’re happy you remembered the bottle for him. Eggs usually upset your stomach to some degree, but the monster version of the dish sits well. It tasted fairly good, too. 

“This is delicious, Pap. Did you put any specific kind of magic in it?” you ask, inspecting the bit of egg on your fork.

“GREEN! WE ARE NOT VERY SKILLED AT GREEN MAGIC, HOWEVER!” he admits with smile, turning back to point at the oven. “OUR STOVE IS MADE BY MONSTERS AND COOKS WITH ARTIFICIAL GREEN MAGIC!” 

“So this is different from like, authentic green magic somehow? What’s the difference?” Papyrus’ jaw opens, shuts, and repeats before he crosses his arms, unable to think of a suitable description to explain for you. 

“ya got some real green magic at grillby’s,” Sans supplies. “it’s supposed to be relaxing and makes you feel invigorated, but artificial stuff just makes you feel alright. better maybe, but not as good as the real stuff.”

“Oh, gotcha.” Speaking of things that made you feel better-- You needed to take your medicine. You stood up and excused yourself from the table, grabbing your pill bottle out of the duffle bag in the living room. You usually preferred taking your meds with food, so it was good you remembered. The skeletons watched as you popped your pills into your mouth and shoved some food inside to go with it. 

“WHAT DOES THAT TASTE LIKE?” Papyrus asked as you swallowed. “IS THAT A SPICE?” He reached for the bottle before you could respond, and you saw Sans’ eyes following with curiosity.

“Pap that’s not--”

“I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF DOO-LOX-ET-TIN! DOES IT TASTE LIKE LOX? UNDYNE HAS SHOWN US THAT!”

“Duloxetine, Paps,” you correct, watching as he passes the bottle to his brother for inspection. “It’s not food, you shouldn’t take any. But it doesn’t really taste like much of anything anyway.”

“BUT YOU JUST CONSUMED A NUMBER OF THESE?” 

“I’m supposed to, yeah. But it’s not safe for monsters. Probably? I’m not really sure about that, actually.” Sans carefully placed the bottle back on the table within your reach and looked at his brother pointedly.

“hey, bro. remember when frisk got a cold? tori gave her some stuff like this. its human medicine, right?” He glanced over for confirmation. You agreed, and Papyrus made a noise of understanding before asking another question.

“BUT YOU AREN’T COUGHING? IS THIS TO KEEP THE COUGHS AWAY?” 

“paps--” Sans was smart. He read the label, and you were sure a guy like him who was so into science could put two and two together, even if he wasn’t familiar with human medications. But you weren’t ashamed and you didn’t think they of all people would look at you differently.

“No, it isn’t,” you started, cutting off the smaller skeleton. “Whatever Frisk took was antitussive-- A cough suppressant. This is an antidepressant,” you explain, shaking the bottle, “It helps me with my depression. Helps make it manageable so I can function-- To a certain extent, anyway. Medicine isn’t perfect.” Papyrus leaned over the table to inspect the little container with some more scrutiny. 

“SO IT ASSISTS YOU IN NOT BEING SAD?” It was a very bare bones explanation, but enough for him to get the basic function.

“More or less.” His grin stretched wide as he reached out, patting the top of the bottle with a gloved hand. 

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MYSTERIOUS MEDICINE!” You couldn’t help but laugh a bit and squeeze your hand over Papyrus’ before you put your meds away. The three of you finish breakfast and while Papyrus does dishes, you head into the living room with Sans to reassemble their living space. With the skeleton’s magic, it doesn’t take you long at all to get thing back in order. 

“so kid, i wanted to ask ya somethin’,” Sans asks as you cozy up in their recliner. “noticed earlier you said your meds weren’t perfect. do they not work right?”  You take a breath and look towards their window, watching the sunlight and flowers outside instead of the skeleton next to you.

“No, they work alright. Nine out of ten days, I’m okay. But sometimes I still get day ten and it’s not fun. But it’s still way better than it used to be,” you disclose, turning to him with a tired smile. “Don’t worry about me, Sans. I’ll be alright.” The familiar grin you expect to see is slightly tight around the corners, making your heart clench. Then he asks another question.

“ever have days when you’re better than ‘ok’?” There it was. Your smile falters a little bit, then softens as you look towards your lap. 

“Sometimes,” you admit honestly. “But they’re getting more frequent. Like… I don’t want to be too forward or anything, but I think you two are really, really good for me.” Your voice is barely above a whisper now, and you hope that Sans doesn’t think that you’re using him and his brother for some sort of high. It isn’t like that. They just make you feel at ease, you enjoy spending time with them, and anything you do together is fun. Thankfully, you don’t have to explain.

“i’m glad, starlight.” The touch on your hand is unexpected, but not unwelcome. Skeletal fingers squeeze around you before pulling away carefully. “we should get ya ready to head home, huh? don’t want you to get sick of us and not come back,” he grins. You huff a laugh in response as Sans helps you up.

“Oh, please. You’ll both have to fight to get rid of me now.”


	10. Chapter 10

A few weeks pass by in a blink.

Work is loaded with tests. The allergy patch tests looked great, and you were moving onto severely weakened bacteria to evaluate monster immunity.

Asgore was a real champ about the whole ordeal, and you found yourself talking quietly with him to distract the colossal goat man from his procedures. He loved talking about flowers. Although you weren’t a big fan of tea, he’d also promised to make you some of his personal blend from his garden as thanks for trying to make things easier for him. You couldn’t refuse. 

But you did find yourself asking if he would be willing to part with one of the flowers so that you could put it in your house-- The next day, you had a beautiful little vase filled with golden petaled blooms. 

Despite her initial nervousness, Alphys was warming up to you as well. After your discussion on monsters and mental healthcare, she came to you with timid questions about treatments. How you dealt with your down days and strategies you used to calm your anxiety. It wasn’t difficult to see past her ‘research’ facade either, and you found yourself explaining with a little more ease knowing that you would be helping someone and not just psychoanalyzed. 

You shared with her your favorite ‘destress’ cartoon and she went into a complete frenzy over it. 

The morning after you gave her a title, Alphys came in looking bedraggled and exhausted but you couldn’t miss the excitement on her face. She gushed to you for a full five minutes about the show before she ran out of breath and had to gasp for more air. Since then, the two of you bonded over the show and its characters, making wild theories over lunch and sharing your favorite fan content with each other. You even promised to hang out when the show would finally come off its hiatus and watch the new episodes together. Now there were two exciting things about the new season.

You kept Papyrus and Sans up to date on your new friendships as well. The three of you still had pasta night together, and the occasional trip to Grillby’s with Sans. Every now and then Papyrus would insist on having a catch up phone call with you and even though you hated phone calls, you enjoyed talking with your skeleton friend. They were happy to hear that you were doing so well with other people, given how much they knew about your anxiety. It was just a cherry on top that they happened to know your new friends fairly well. 

Papyrus went so far as to suggest that you take Toriel up on her offer for dinner-- It had been a while since their whole friend group had gotten together and adding you into the circle was the perfect occasion. You’d also get to finally meet Frisk and Undyne, both of whom you’d heard a lot of secondhand information about. It would be good to put faces to your randomly collected trivia. Sans put in a phone call to Toriel and they figured out a date good for everyone. 

“Oh yes, how wonderful! I can’t wait to see her again. Do you happen to know if she prefers cinnamon or butterscotch?” You reassured Toriel over speakerphone that she didn’t need to cook anything special just because you were coming, but she insisted that you were too special not to cook for. 

You were just glad she wasn’t around to see the exact shade of red you turned. 

The dinner would be next week, and while you were excited, the prospect of so many people at once wanting to get to know you better was more than daunting. It ticked off your anxiety once your realized just how many people were going to be there-- Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Asgore, Toriel, and Undyne and Frisk, who you hadn’t even met yet.

You almost backed out. 

But at this point, Papyrus knew how to manipulate you too well. 

“I WILL GET PIZZA  _ AND _ BREAD FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT YOU PREFER IF YOU PROMISE YOU WILL ATTEND!” So you were definitely going. 

“Alright, alright, fine,” you sighed, flopping over on the couch next to Sans with a drawn out groan. “Just-- Gimme a minute to chill out, okay? Then we can go get the pizza.” 

“NONSENSE! YOU TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED TO ‘CHILL OUT’ AND I WILL GO GET PIZZA MYSELF.” You squinted your eyes up at him. He was being completely serious, as you should have already known, but it didn’t warm your heart any less. 

“Pap, c’mon, you’re already getting the pizza, I’m not letting you go alone.”

“don’t sweat it, kiddo. paps likes to run all the way there and back before he eats anything greasy.”

“ITS TRUE! I LIKE KEEPING MYSELF IN SUCH AMAZING SHAPE! AND PEOPLE DO ENJOY STARING AT MY RIPPLING MUSCLES, NYEH HEH.” He struck a pose to show off his nonexistent muscles and you couldn’t help but smile. 

“That is a sexy skeleton, I will admit.” You felt Sans tense next to you and wondered if he honestly believed you were hitting on his brother, but it was gone before you could even complete the thought. 

“OF COURSE! NO NEED TO FEEL ASHAMED, ANYONE WOULD HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOU,” Papyrus nodded. “NOW THAT WE’VE SETTLED THIS, I WILL GO FETCH YOUR BRIBE WHILE YOU RELAX!” Sans managed to get in a half assed salute before the taller skeleton dashed out the door with too much gusto for his own good.

The house was quiet without Papyrus. MTT played on the television, but you were too tired to pay enough attention to it. Just you and Sans. 

It was comfortable. Comfortable enough for your mind to wander aimlessly until you stumbled upon a curious thought.

“Hey, Sans?”

“whats up, buttercup?”. You shift around on the couch and gaze lazily over at him on the other side. 

“Do you ever like. Think about how different we are? I mean I’m human. I have bones like you do, but I have flesh and blood and nerves…. Do you have nerves? What are you made of?” Sans’ eyelights slide over in your direction and he gives you a grin. One bony hand withdraws from his jacket to wave dramatically, phalanges wiggling as he does. 

“magic.”

“Dammit, Sans,” you groaned, despite a tired laugh escaping. With renewed interest, you sit yourself a little more upright and watch your skeleton friend. “Seriously, are you never curious? Like… From what I can see, your bones don’t match mine. Yours are all connected together at the neck. But I guess it makes sense because you don’t have a spinal cord. Still, I wonder what else is different, y’know?” A wistful sigh escapes you. You’ve always been curious-- Always wanting to know every little detail that you possibly could. 

Sans shrugs in response. “never thought about it, i guess. besides frisk, you’re the first human we really paid attention to. except pap’s old job.” He closes his eyes and grows quiet, leaving you to mull over the likely differences between your human anatomical structure and that of a skeleton. The possibilities were endless. 

The hunger for knowledge eats at you as you sit.

“Sans?”

“whats up, buttercup?” You roll your eyes.

“You already used that one, lazybones. Anyway, I was wondering if you’d show me your whole body? I mean Papyrus told me that you guys just wear clothes because you can. But it’s kind of intimate for us humans to strip down,” you add, “So I understand if you don’t want to.” Sans’ shoulders raise and he lifts his hands up in a ‘why not’ gesture. 

“don’t go makin’ puppy dog eyes at me now. guess i’ll just have to throw you a  _ bone _ and let you look around.” God, you hated that his pun worked on two different levels. And you hated even more that you chuckled anyway. “but i’m not getting up, so top half will  _ halve _ to do for now, kiddo.”

You ignore his puns in favor of your excitement. A happy little laugh escapes you as you move to better examine the skeleton, perching on your knees in front of the couch as he removes his shirt and lazily tosses it aside. You can’t help but gasp at the sight. He’s so different from you. It makes Papyrus’ initial idea that humans descended from skeleton monsters even more ridiculous, sweet as he is. 

“Wow, even your ribs are fused,” you breathe, reaching out to trace your fingers over his bottom rib that still attaches at his sternum. Your fingertips hover featherlight on the bone, which is smoother and warmer than you’d expected it to be. “That’s...wild.” Sans’ head tilts a little. 

“is it really that con _ fuse _ -ing?” Again, you ignore his puns and the slight blue hue to Sans’ face. Maybe he was ashamed to know so little of humans, or maybe it was being put on display. But Sans had agreed. And you’re too enthralled with your discoveries already. 

“Yeah! Like, I’ve got five false ribs, and two of those are floating ribs.” His expression says that he doesn’t understand you at all, and you quickly grab his hand and press it into your chest right under your breast. “See? Can you feel that rib?” You glide his hand closer to the middle of your chest. “It’s not attached to anything. It’s floating. You don’t have those!” It’s easy to miss how blue Sans’ face is turning while you’re all caught up in your enthusiasm, but the flush is definitely there.

“uh….yeah. yep. “ He clears his throat. “floating ribs, that sure is a new one.” You barely hear him, already back to your exploring. Instead of tracing over the ribs with your hands again, you’re relying on your eyesight, curious about how his bones stay connected. It’s difficult to get a good look at his spine from this angle, but what you can see in his lower torso isn’t helpful. All his vertebrae are fused together. You lean closer to check out the joint at his elbow-- Although its much rounder than you expect, it isn’t attached with any visible cartilage. It seems impossible that his bones don’t scrape together like that, but you’ve never heard any terrible crunching noises on the rare occasion that he moves around. He must really be held together with his magic.

Then another thought strikes you. 

“Hey, Sans?” you say for his attention, even though he’s already staring directly at you with those eyelights. “You know how you can conjure up bones and stuff?”

“yeah, sure. any numbskulls givin’ you trouble?” he asks, sockets darkening briefly before you shake your head. 

“No, nothing like that. I was just wondering. You can conjure bones, which are part of your body, and you get an iris like a human when you do magic. Can you make up any other body parts?”

“did you have something specific in mind, kid?” Sitting back on your thighs, you think about the question.

“I don’t know. Would you have any reason to? Hm. Let’s see… Eyes, nose, no, teeth? No you have those. Don’t need lips. Oh!” Your hands clap together. “Do you do a tongue? To like, eat or taste or anything?” Sans chuckles at how quickly you rattle your thought process out and how happy you are to have settled on something.

“nah.” He sees you deflate. “i don’t need it to taste nothin’. but i can make one.” Immediately, you perk back up and raise yourself to lean closer to the skeleton, grinning. 

“Can you show me? Please?” A faint blue glow fills Sans’ eye socket, and slowly, his tongue lolls out of his mouth. It’s the same color as his magic, glowing and translucent. You suck in a breath and inspect it closer.

“Oh my god, it’s so pretty,” you whisper. Sans can’t help but snicker, though he keeps his tongue out and speaks around it. 

“you’re kind of a freak, huh kid?” 

“Shut up! It’s my favorite color and it glows, this is really cool!” you shoot back defensively. It’s almost mesmerizing, like how you used to be transfixed by lava lamps when you were a kid. After a few moments of your trance, your hands start to lift but you pause, hovering uncertainly. “I kinda wanna touch it,” you admit, “But that feels weird. Is it solid? I’m not really sure.” Despite Sans snorting again at your questions, he feels inclined to give you an answer. 

“you tell me.” His long tongue extends before you can ask what he means, and flicks at your fingertips as you pull back with a little shriek. 

“Sans!” 

“hey, got your answer didn’t you?” You can’t really protest that. It was solid around your fingertips, and wet too, you note, seeing the traces of light blue saliva on your hand. 

“Whoa.” You lift your hand closer to your face, then turn it to Sans. “Your saliva is blue like this too? Wow. Are all your bodily fluids blue? Do you even have bodily fluids?”

And his face explodes into that blue glow. You stare, watching as the color spreads further and further along his skull, and wait patiently for your answer. Sans’ eyelights are darting around and looking at anything but you. 

“uh... i mean, yeah, i do,” he mutters. Humming happily, you reach out to trace along the skeleton’s cheekbones with no small amount of reverence. 

“Wow. Glowing tears...that really is some magical stuff right there,” you remark offhandedly. “You’d be even prettier!” It’s quiet for a moment as you run paths over his skull and try to map out how that color on his face spreads, wondering if there’s any rhyme or reason to it, before Sans sighs again.

“...tears? you’re killing me, smalls.” Your hands keep wandering, running over his clavicle and over to the socket of his shoulders, tapping curiously at the joint. Then you move on down to his sternum, following where his ribs connect with your fingertips.

“Hey, does your saliva glow like your magic? Like if you licked me again, would I glow in the dark too?” You can feel his breathing hitch and immediately take your hands away in case you hurt him. Your eyes shoot up to his narrow eyelights and you notice that they aren’t white anymore, but have that slight tinge of blue to them. Probably due to his magic. “Did I hurt you?”

“...no. just uh, not real sure about that answer, kiddo. haven’t exactly tried that one out.” You relax, but keep your hands pulled back to your own chest.

“Okay. Do you want me to stop touching you?” The last thing you wanted was to make him uncomfortable. He was your friend after all, and he’d made such an effort in keeping you comfortable. You couldn’t let that go unrepaid. 

“...nah. sorry, just realized i don’t know myself as well as i thought, is all,” he chuckles lowly, sliding his eyelights to meet your gaze.”go ahead.” He seems softer with the blue glow on his cheeks, or perhaps his smile is just more tender. You feel yourself captivated with that look on his features and have to tear yourself away. This time, you reach for his hand, inspecting the phalanges. The bones are longer, knuckles more rounded than yours, and you trace each of his fingers with your own. 

You flip over to his palm and look at the small plate of bone. Despite not having flesh, his hands and fingers are still bigger than yours. Before you can look too much further into it, Sans hand curls around yours of its own accord. 

You lift your head up to see that same expression on his face. Your own smile softens, and the two of you sit quietly there for a moment. No words pass between you. At some point, Sans’ thumb starts to rub carefully over where it rests on your hand. You wonder if he’s doing it out of reflex or is just unused to doing nothing with his hands. 

“YOUR BRIBE HAS ARRIVED, FRIEND!” The front door slams shut and the two of you jump. You both laugh at the reaction and move to right yourselves, but before you can take your hand back Sans gives it a firm squeeze. You smile up at him again with the same content look and hand his shirt over. 

“This was fun. Let’s do more some time, okay? Maybe legs next!”

“ya that desperate to get into my pants, starlight?”

“I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT! SANS DOES NOT DO HIS LAUNDRY OFTEN.” You rolled your eyes at the two of them and walked into the kitchen to dig into your incentive, leaving the boys to argue about the proper frequency for washing clothes. 


	11. Chapter 11

“Are you sure I can’t just go home?” you whined, shifting nervously in the passenger seat. On the other side of you was Papyrus, steadily driving towards your doom with that ever present smile on his skull.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT! EVERYONE IS SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU, FRIEND, WE CAN’T DISAPPOINT THEM.” 

“Fine. But since it’s my car, Sans is navigating the way home and I’m napping in the back.” You’d need the rest after such prolonged and heavy socialization. They were your friends, sure, but that didn’t mean it was going to drain your reserves any less. 

“i’ll also be napping in the front,” Sans added. 

“NO YOU WILL NOT! DRIVING ___ SAFELY IS AN IMPORTANT DUTY, SANS!!”

There was some more arguing about the responsibility of sitting in the front seat that didn’t quite reach you. In your mind, there was already too much going on to pay attention. Thoughts started to race about what could go wrong, how the people there were going to suddenly dislike you, if you would offend the strangers you had yet to meet or if you would completely feel like an outsider in the little group. Anxiety already had its claws snared deep in your gut. You twisted uncomfortably in your seat, feeling your limbs start to shake and the familiar sheen of dampness forming. After a few moments of failing to deal with the sensation on your own, you tapped Papyrus carefully and waited for the bony brothers to register your interruption.

“Um, hey Paps,” you whispered, “Dumb question. Can I uh, can I hold your hand please? I just-- It’d make me feel better.” 

“Of Course, ___.” He could tell you were nervous. That voice only came out when he was being extra careful around you and the softened tone was almost as comforting as his touch. Papyrus’ gloved hand extended towards you as he shifted to keep a steady grip on the steering wheel. You curled your fingers around the hand, squeezing rhythmically so that you wouldn’t clench too tight instead and hurt him. You took a few moments of that-- Squeeze, breathe, squeeze, breathe, squeeze, breathe. The car is quiet save the hum of the engine and your deliberate inhaling. 

“hey, kiddo.” 

“What’s up, Sans?” Your voice is still too shaky for your liking.

“y’know how i do shows at grillby’s? some of the monsters ask me if i ever get stage fright. know what i tell ‘em?” It doesn’t seem like the small skeleton to open up, but just in case, you look towards the rearview mirror and catch his eyelights. 

“What’s that, Sans?”

“why would i be afraid of a stage?” Despite your racing heart, you snort into your free hand. Papyrus mumbles his disapproval beside you and you feel his hand tense slightly. 

“That was just bad.”

“i tried out being a bit  _ boulder, _ but not all the jokes  _ rock _ .” Another laugh escapes. Then it hits you what’s happening-- Sans was trying to distract you with his stupid, familiar jokes. And it was working. 

“You’re really hitting  _ rock bottom _ with your comedy here,” you reply with a weak smile. 

“BOTH OF YOU ARE TAKING MY PATIENCE WITH THIS TERRIBLE HUMOR FOR  _ GRANITE. _ ”

“we all got our  _ faults _ , pap.”

“ENOUGH! WE’VE ARRIVED, THANK GOD.”  Sure enough, as you look up the car is parked in the driveway of an unfamiliar house. The exterior is well maintained and there are cute little flower beds on the walkway to the front door. Likely Asgore’s doing. He and Toriel lived together, despite their differences, and slept in different rooms while they tried to reconcile. Asgore had once said something to you about monster marriages being eternal, but you had to focus more on his test than that concept. 

You undid your seatbelt and took a breath, staring down at the dish in your lap. It took some time for you to decide on what to bring to the little party and you hoped you chose well. 

“Well, here we go.”

“DON’T WORRY! TORIEL IS THE KINDEST OF ALL MONSTERS. SHE BEATS EVEN MY REMARKABLE KINDNESS!” Papyrus chimed in, giving you a reassuring little pat on the head. 

“‘n frisk is a good pal. don’t get too worked up about them, they’re pretty chill.” With your friends’ encouragement, you step out of the car and head up to the front door with the two of them. Papyrus presses the little chiming bell and you hold your breath, waiting. Toriel answers far too soon. 

“Hello, hello! It’s so good to see you all,” she says earnestly. “Please make yourselves at home. Asgore and Frisk are in the living room-- Alphys and Undyne will be here shortly.” The skeletons make their way inside with ease and you hesitate in the doorway. 

“It’s nice to see you again. I uh, brought something for dinner, should I put it in the kitchen?” You hold up your serving plate and glance up at the tall goat woman, watching her expression shift into surprise. 

“Oh, how thoughtful of you. I’ll take it to the kitchen while I finish dinner preparations-- Please, sit, relax,” Toriel insists, her smile softening. “Do not push yourself too much, my child.” Her hand squeezes your shoulder before she takes your plate and disappears down the hallway. You take a breath and head towards the direction of voices, immediately recognizing Asgore’s hulking figure in the living room. 

“Ah, howdy there, ___!” he greets you with a warm hug. Although slightly stiff, you don’t pull away and smile into his fur. 

“Hey, Asgore. Your house looks very lovely,” you start. “It’s nice to see you when you aren’t scared and nervous, too.” His laugh rumbles in his chest. It feels inexplicably comforting despite him being able to crush you in an instant.

“I’ll agree with you on that.” Asgore carefully pulls away, keeping a steady arm around your back as he points you towards a child excitedly conversing with the skeletons on the couch. “This is my child, Frisk. Frisk, why don’t you come say hello?” Their little face lifted and met your gaze. A hand was held up towards the skeletons, probably indicating that they’d be back soon, and Frisk slid off the couch over towards you.

“You’re ___, aren’t you? Papyrus was right, you are very pretty,” they said plainly. “I’m Frisk. I hear you work with Mom and Dad and Alphys to help monsters-- Thank you very much.” The kid was polite, if not blunt. You felt redness seeping into your cheeks and offered out your hand.

“T--Thanks. And not a problem, I’m more than happy to help out monsters. It’s the least we can do after leaving them underground for years-- to make sure they can at least be healthy out in the world.” 

The child smiled up at you with such genuine, adoring gratitude and you felt your heart melt instantly. Oh right, this was why they were the Ambassador, after all. New topic, new topic, before you lost all ability to speak.

“So, uh, is Toriel Mom, and Asgore Dad?” you ventured. The living situation would certainly make more sense if they had both agreed to take in Frisk as their own.  They nodded and gestured back towards Asgore with that same gentle smile.

“Yeah. Dad promised that we could be a happy family in the Underground. Mom promised that too, before I met Dad. We made it to the surface, but they still kept their promises.” You got the feeling that there was more to the story, but as your current relationship stood (relative strangers), it felt like a tale for another time. It warmed your heart that at the very least, Frisk ended up with a loving home after all that they went through Underground. You’d never gotten all the details, but Alphys and Papyrus had both given you summarized versions of their journey back to the surface. It was horrifying what the poor child had to go through. 

But when you looked at them now, back to conversing with the skeletons and their adoptive father, you couldn’t imagine that Frisk could be happier anywhere but in their new home. It filled you with hope for the future. 

“HEY NERDS!!! WE’RE FINALLY HERE, LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED!” A sharp gasp escaped, slapping your hand to your chest in surprise at the shout and following slam of the front door. That had to be Undyne. Papyrus jumped up from the couch excitedly and ran back to the entryway, greeting her with just as much enthusiasm and volume. You took up his seat next to Sans and smiled tiredly towards his curious gaze. 

“ya got asgore wrapped around your little finger, huh,” he chuckled lowly. “he’s basically a huge teddy bear these days.” You weren’t sure exactly what he meant by that, but you had to agree that the man was lovely.

“He’s sweet. You know, I asked him for a flower from his garden, and he ended up giving me a whole vase. It’s still on my table-- I wonder if they’re magic flowers or something,” you hummed. 

“probably. he’s got a real good touch for that kinda thing.” There was a comfortable moment of quiet between the two of you, the calm before the storm that was coming in from the entryway. “didn’t know you liked flowers.”

“FLOWERS ARE FOR DWEEBS!” A voice shouted, and you looked up with a jump. Blue figure, red hair, booming voice-- No doubt it had to be Undyne. “Except when I get them for Alphy. But she’s a dweeb too!” 

“U-undyne, please don’t insult people w-who like flowers,” Alphys chimed in quietly from behind. 

“Dweeb isn’t an insult! Totally, anyway.” She waved off her girlfriend’s concern and locked her gaze on you. Your gut churned watching her too-sharp and too-toothy grin stretch out across her features. “AND WHO’S THIS PUNK?!” 

“Uh, my name is--”

“Aren’t you the little human girl Papyrus never shuts up about lately? NGAHH!” she shouted, flexing her arms menacingly. “Let’s go, human!” Your heart was racing as alarm overwhelmed you. Alphys nervously tugged at her girlfriend’s beefy arm, attempting to defuse the situation to no avail. 

“U-undyne, please!”

“I SAID LET’S GO, PUNK!” This was it, this was how you were going to die.

“There will be no violence in this house,” Toriel interjected, emerging from the kitchen. “Rough housing included.”

“Aww. How do you be friends with someone you haven’t sparred with?” That scary sharp smirk morphed into a pout instantly, and you almost felt the emotional whiplash.

“You t-talk. We’ve been o-over this, remember?” Alphys sighed quietly and pushed her glasses up on her snout before offering you an apologetic smile. “Um, how are you, ___?” 

“I’m uh, I’m good!” you said, too quickly. Perhaps too loudly. Your blood was still pounding in your ears, fingers clenched in the fabric of your pants unconsciously. “I mean. I’m good, Alphys.”

“SHE’S MORE THAN GOOD!” Papyrus beamed. “SHE IS EXCELLENT. I AM VERY EXCITED TO TRY HER COOKING-- SHE INSISTED ON BRINGING A DISH TO SHARE WITH US!” Good old Papyrus, swooping in and defusing the tension-- Even if it was by singing you praises. 

“Speaking of,” Toriel started gently, “Dinner is ready, and we are all here. Why don’t we move to the table?” 

“Yeah! FOOD!”

“GOODIE!” Undyne and Papyrus bounded into the dining room first, and everyone else steadily followed along. You really needed to stay next to someone you knew to help with the anxiety. So you quickly took Sans’ hand when he finally started to move, holding on to the bones like a lifeline.

“you ok?” You took a shaky breath and offered a smile in response. 

“Not sure, but we have places to be,” you laughed nervously. “I’ll make it through the night. I hope.” His smile softened as he looked over your features, taut with unease and painted in a bright flush. You felt his hand curl firmly around yours. 

“just hold tight, starlight.” 


	12. Chapter 12

**** Dinner was certainly going to be an affair. 

You followed Sans into the dining room with your hand still in his, clinging to the bones like a life-line even as the two of you took seats around the table. Across from you sat Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys. On your other side was Asgore, and at the opposite end of the table sat Toriel, with Frisk at her side. 

“I’m so glad everyone could make it,” Toriel smiled warmly. “It’s been such a long time. Please, everyone, go right ahead and enjoy yourselves.” Dishes were passed around in what seemed like a haze to you. There was so much talking, and laughing, and moving that it made your head spin. Still, Sans’ hand never withdrew from your grasp. You managed to pick out the distinct sound of Papyrus’ chastising, something about magic at the table, but not many other details. 

When you looked down from the frenzy, your eyesight refocused on the plate full of food in front of you. Did you make this? You didn’t recall piling food onto the plate, but there it was, with all its gentle steam and pleasant smells wafting up to greet you. Taking a breath, you picked up a fork with your free hand and tried to eat the way normal people do. 

“So, ___ how are those flowers holding up?” Asgore inquired after you’d swallowed a mouthful. “I hope you like them. I can always give you more if you want, okay?” Your smile was nervous and twitchy but genuine as you looked over at the goat monster. 

“They’re perfect, thanks. I love them. But don’t trouble yourself or anything on my account.” A huge paw waved in your direction. 

“Don’t you worry about it, now. It’s no trouble at all. When I’m not at work with you I find some of my favorite time is spent working outside with plants. In fact,” he started, his own smile brightening some, “I grew some of the herbs in my wif-- Toriel’s cooking tonight.” It was hard to miss how he almost flinched at his own mistake. Your heart sank and you set your fork down, reaching towards him to squeeze his forearm and brush past it. 

“That’s really cool, actually. I’ve always wanted to grow the herbs I use a lot, maybe make my own food a little better. Maybe you could show me how to care for them sometime?” Watching the gloom clear from his expression was so rewarding, you didn’t mind that you might have signed yourself up for more social interaction in the future. Besides, it was Asgore, teddy bear supreme!

“Of course! I’d love to,” he enthused. 

“W-what kind of food do you like to m-make, ___?” Alphys asked curiously, having been mostly quiet through the multiple conversations going on at the table. “Papyrus said you b-brought something.” 

“Oh, uh, yeah, I did. I don’t know where it got off to, actually, after I gave it to Toriel.”

“Oh! The dish you brought,” the goat in question interjected, hearing her name. “It smelled quite sweet, so I assumed it would be more suitable to bring with dessert. Was I incorrect on that assumption?” You waved your hand at her and shook your head, hoping you didn’t seem as nervous as you were. 

“No, no, you were right. But I did make some extra and different so that you could eat them for breakfast, or if anyone doesn’t like their sweets too sweet,” you laughed, feeling stupid about the words coming out of your mouth.  “I didn’t really think it smelled that sweet though, maybe I made it wrong or something.” 

Shit, now you were being rude too. Who questions someone’s sense of smell in their own home?

But then Toriel laughed, warm and sweet and motherly at your observation. 

“Monsters typically have better senses than humans, my child. Do not worry, I’m sure you did fine,” she reassured with a smile. “And we have many...eccentric tastes between all of us. It’s the effort that we appreciate, right, Frisk?” The small child at her side fidgeted slightly and leaned over the table to whisper dramatically towards you. 

“You don’t have to eat the snails if you don’t want to, I don’t either.” Snails? You gave a bewildered look at the food spread out on the table a little more carefully and-- Oh. There they were, snails. How did you not notice that sooner? None had ended up on your plate though, by some miracle. Frisk laughed at the face you pulled. 

“We are just happy to be here together,” Toriel finished, patting Frisk’s head gently. “And there is always something for everyone.” 

“sure is, thanks for that, tori.” Sans finally spoke up, just to shove the tip of a ketchup bottle into his mouth. 

“Of course! I started buying the kind you recommended, as well, and I must say I do taste a significant improvement. Although I still don’t think I’ll be consuming it as you do.”

“OH! THAT IS THE BRAND _____ GAVE TO US!” Papyrus boomed happily. “SANS LOVES HER FOR IT, AND NOW QUEEN TORIEL LOVES HER TOO!”

You choked mid bite. Queen?!

“whoa, you ok there kiddo?”

“What a WEENIE! Who lets food get the better of them?!”

“C-can you nod if you c-can breathe, please?”

You nodded frantically as your hand flew to your throat, trying to massage down the lump in your throat. Everyone at the table stared at you, mostly with concern, and it felt like there wasn’t enough air in the room. 

“I’m,” you coughed again, “I’m fine. But uh, speaking of air, I think I need some. I’ll be back in a minute, okay?” You scrambled to get yourself out of the dining room fast enough and ended up on the front porch, leaning against the brick of the house. It took way too much effort to try and regulate your breathing so you wouldn’t end up in a full blown panic attack. 

How were you supposed to act in front of royalty? Why didn’t anyone let you know?!

And then everyone just, staring at you. You knew they were only doing it because they cared, but it was too much. Everyone talking and moving and making you  _ be a functional person _ . It was exhausting. 

But it was quiet here. You took a breath and surveyed the flower beds, trying your best to identify any of them and taking note of ones you liked. It was only early evening and the sun was just starting to yellow it’s light, falling across the trees and bathing the street in golden light. 

Wait. That limousine was actually golden. The hell?

You watched, frozen with panic as the door swung open and a metal man in high heeled boots stepped out. They clacked against the pavement as he strutted up to the door, barely looking away from the compact mirror in his hands. 

Until he got to you. Your hands shook as they curled into the porch railing. Feeling his eyes rake up and down you only made the intense nervousness worse. 

“WELL HELLO DARLING!” Oh god, he was loud like Papyrus. “Who is this exceptional beauty, and why has no one informed me of your attendance?” The volume dialed back to a normal level, and you supposed he might just like to make an entrance. 

“I-I’m…. I’m ____. I didn’t know---” 

“Well! Aren’t you just precious. You must be the little human girl my darling Papyrus is so preoccupied with. I must say, I quite understand his liking!” It felt like your head was spinning and you were desperately trying to cling to anything you recognized in his words. 

Then you realized that his words  _ were _ familiar.

“Wait, hang on,” you stood up a little straighter to get a good look, “Are-- Are you Mettaton?”

“OH MY!” he gasped, and was that ever a loud gasp. “I most certainly am the famous star Mettaton!” There was a sudden flash from somewhere and the robot struck a pose. “In the synthetic flesh, right before your eyes, it’s me! Mettaton! And you must be one of my lovely fans. How wonderful!” 

First there was just the normal anxiety. Then there was being in the presence of royalty. And now you were starstruck.   
  


“I, uh, yeah! I’m really, uh, fond of your work. Especially the cooking and quiz shows you run,” you babbled. “They’re my favorite. I binge watch them with Papyrus all the time and oh wow did I say that out loud? I’m sorry, you must get that kind of thing a lot.” Mettaton stood stock still for a moment and you worried he was furious about you commenting on his celebrity status. He wasn’t on the clock, after all. And suddenly his too-long arms reached out, only slightly cold hands coming to rest on your cheeks. 

Oh no he was too close. Was he touching you? Oh no oh god were you going to vomit or pass out? You couldn’t tell. 

“You are absolutely welcome. And I am furious! Outraged! That no one has brought you to me sooner.” One arm snuck around your waist and tugged you to fit snugly against him. “Come inside darling, I must share your beauty with these other creatures. And then demand they apologize for keeping you from me.” The two of you walked through the door before you could even find the words to protest, or ask him to maybe not touch you. You followed through the motions numbly, having reached that point in your anxiety where you just went blank. 

“Darlings! You can stop holding your breath, I’ve arrived,” Mettaton sang as you came into the dining room. “And I found a treasure on my way in!” 

“METTATON! I THOUGHT YOU COULDN’T MAKE IT?” Papyrus jumped up excitedly to greet him, swooping the two of you into a hug. “AND YES! THIS IS ____, WHO IS ALSO KNOWN AS ‘A TREASURE’!”

“Treasure? She’s a goddess, really, look at her.” You felt a hand on your hair and sucked in a breath before you screamed. “I can’t believe she’s been hiding away here all this time when she could be living in complete luxury with me. The finest shows, finest dresses, anything she wants, she deserves it all!”

“M-mettaton, what...what happened to your show? Did you finish f-filming early?” No one seemed too alarmed that he attached himself to you, much to your discomfort.

There were some more questions and answers, you were sure, but they were fading out. You didn’t hear the actual words or voices, just static buzzing around you with the occasional pause. Colors started to fade too, until everything around you was just fuzzy gray with outlines of shapes and objects. You felt your heart racing in your throat. 

The next thing you knew, you were sitting on a bed. 

“hey.” Sans. That was Sans’ voice. You took a breath. “you doing okay? you looked like you were gonna pass out.” Another breath. You found Sans’ eyelights as he sat next to you at the edge of the bed, focusing on them and watching as they flickered across your face. 

“I’m… I’ll be okay. Thanks for pulling me out, Sans,” you sighed wearily, falling backwards on the bed. 

“not a problem, starlight.”  The two of you sat in comfortable silence for a little while, allowing you to gather yourself at least somewhat. You noticed that there were flowers in the room, and bookshelves along the walls. They weren’t enough in your eyesight to read much, but they looked academic in nature. You wondered if you were in Toriel’s room. 

God, Toriel.

“Is Toriel really the Queen?” you asked quietly. 

“yep. of monsterkind. but the title’s kinda useless now that we’re trying to merge governments or whatever, and she doesn’t like it anyway.”  That made sense. People would react to her just the way you did and it probably made being social difficult. 

“Wait,” you sat up a little, “Does that mean Asgore was King too?” Sans grinned as you groaned and flopped back down on the bed. “Oh my god, why am I like this.” You felt guilty for having so much anxiety now that you knew who they used to be. They were your friends now and yet, it still intimidated you.

“don’t worry about it. ‘sides, the worst thing to deal with down there was probably the box with legs,” Sans snickered. “at least he didn’t get his arms tangled this time. alphys usually recruits me for untangling duty when mettaton gets excited.”

“Please don’t remind me about that. Also, does he seriously get his arms tangled? Oh my god. I’m so glad that didn’t happen.”

“he does. i’m sorry about him by the way. didn’t think he was coming or i would’ve let you know,” the skeleton apologized sheepishly. “he’s got a big….,” Sans trailed off, looking for a word. 

“ego.”

“Presence.”  You both laughed when you spoke over each other, knowing that both you assessments were equally true. 

“you ready to head down for dessert? we can go home after, you’ve been through a lot tonight.” For a moment, you turned your head and just looked at Sans. Watching his face. You realized that it was only dinner, but it had taken a big toll on you. And not only did Sans notice, he also came to your rescue when you were on the verge of breaking down. 

Your chest squeezed. 

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get this over with,” you sighed, half playfully as you got up. “And uh, Sans?” Once he was standing up properly, you carefully wound your arms around his torso where his ribs were and hugged tightly. “Thank you.”  It felt like he stiffened, but maybe you imagined it, because he returned the embrace almost immediately. 

“not a problem, starlight.”

The two of you reentered the dining room where Toriel was just bringing out the dessert plates. She had baked pie in your honor, your favorite flavor too. And you felt the nerves rise up again as she took the lid off of your tupperware and everyone peered inside. 

Papyrus was the first to throw you a smile, although you noticed that he was straining to do so. 

“DID YOU FORGET TO ADD THE WATER TO YOUR OATMEAL, FRIEND? IT’S OKAY!” 

“Is it supposed to look like that? Papyrus’ oatmeal always looks wimpy like he is. ARE YOU TRYING TO FIGHT US?!” Undyne added, only compounding your worry and confusion. 

“Perhaps they are better warm! They may have become more solid as they cooled?” Toriel offered. Oh god, they hated your food already. 

The only one who looked happy was Frisk, and you were never more happy for a child in your presence. 

“Guys. They’re supposed to look like this,” Frisk explained. “They’re oatmeal bars! It’s not just oatmeal. It’s like cake, but with oatmeal.” A chorus of understanding noises made its way through the table and you felt yourself relax. You took your seat back next to Sans and started to explain. 

“Like Frisk said, they’re oatmeal bars. Strawberry jam ones, to be exact. I put icing on some and not on others, in case there were some leftover for breakfast or if someone didn’t like so much sugar,” you offered as you were handed a slice of pie. 

“That’s very thoughtful of you my child, thank you,” Toriel smiled. “I do not like giving Frisk so much sugar, and I am not very fond of it myself. I consider fruit to be quite sweet on its own.” Papyrus seemed excited as well.

“YOUR CONSIDERATION IS AMAZING AS ALWAYS, FRIEND!” It seemed like Mettaton had disappeared off to somewhere else, as he wasn’t just shouting compliments at you or your food, and while you felt a little guilty, you couldn’t say you weren’t glad.

“I’m gonna destroy this little human dessert!” You snorted slightly as you sliced into your pie, watching Undyne try and shove the whole bar into her mouth at once, only to get it stuck on the sharp edges of her teeth. “‘M NO’ G’NNA LE’ I’ WI’!!!!” Her teeth gnashed as she tried to decimate the tiny little sweet. Alphys sighed next to her. 

Everyone at the table took a slice of pie and at least one of your oatmeal bars. To your delight, they were a huge success. Papyrus made his dopey grin with tears in his eyes and said it was almost better than dinosaur egg oatmeal. Frisk ate two or three, until Toriel and Asgore insisted that they would get a stomach ache if they continued. Asgore himself even liked the iced bars, until the sugar would get stuck to his fur. Undyne burst out laughing, and even Toriel couldn’t help a few giggles. 

You felt nice, despite it having been a long evening. 

You bid goodbye to the group of friends, getting hugs from everyone (including a rib crusher via Undyne) and piled into the back of your car. 

“Wake me up when we’re home guys, I’m exhausted.”

“OF COURSE! SLEEP WELL!”

“just take it easy, you did great.”

You felt great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I know its been a while. College is hard and I keep getting sick. But here we are with a new update and a handsy robot. <3


	13. Chapter 13

After the whole dinner fiasco, Papyrus had promised that they would take it easy on you with social obligations for a little while. But both skeletons expressed that they were extremely proud of how you stuck it out to the end. 

You didn’t almost cry at the praise. Not at all. 

You sniffled a sleepy thanks and shuffled into your home when they dropped you off, falling asleep just as quickly as you had on the ride back. 

A few days passed before you showed back up at the skeleton’s residence. You were tired, sure, and didn’t feel like doing much of anything (especially with how hectic work had gotten). But you missed your friends and decided to drop by after your shift ended. Before you did anything, though, you asked for Papyrus and Sans’ permission during your lunch break-- Intruding would be the last thing you wanted to do. Papyrus responded with his usual enthusiasm.

_ OF COURSE! SANS AND I ALWAYS ENJOY YOUR PRESENCE! _

He was working today too, but he’d love to see you after he finished up. In the meantime, if his brother was awake, you were more than welcome to hangout with him in their house. You got the stock ‘ok’ from Sans and rolled your eyes fondly before you headed back to work.   

Asgore was being a real sweetheart today. You felt bad, poking and prodding at him with so many needles, but Alphys had insisted that drawing the magic out of him for testing would be a vital step in your tests. Unfortunately, when you looked at her notes, you only saw steps one and three. Step two had a gaping giant blank-- Hopefully, you could work together to fill it in and profit from the endeavor. 

Once you got a armfull of tubes filled with Asgore’s magic, you let the poor monster rest. He looked drained. Not that you could blame him, he had just gotten his life force sucked out of him. 

“Hey, Asgore,” you called softly, rubbing his furry ear to rouse him a little bit. “We’re done. Good job, big guy.” He responded with a tired smile. Then he tried to stand, and wobbled before he returned to the testing chair with your help easing him back. 

“Whoa, hey. You’re kinda light headed, just sit tight, okay? I’ll be right back.” Papyrus had once mentioned something to you about levels and health, something something, food helped-- So you made Andrea come keep watch on your volunteer while you found him something suitable. 

You knew you had something in your bag. Papyrus had insisted that he give you little bits of green magic to take around with you, in case you started feeling bad or anxious when they weren’t nearby. So you ended up with a purse full of home-made monster candy that Sans brought home from Grillby’s for you. 

Your friends were the best. 

After some digging, you managed to find the little wrapped treat and headed back into the lab. Asgore already seemed to be doing a little better. He smiled weakly at you as Andrea offered him water. 

“Thank you ladies, really,” he spoke with a gruff cough, “I apologize for this.” The two of you shook your heads.

“It’s fine, really, don’t worry about it. Humans get like this when we draw this much blood from them, it’s not a big deal,” Andrea explained with a gentle hum. 

“Not a big deal,” you echoed. You scratched his ear again, happy to see that the monster relaxed a little to your touches. Then you offered him the candy. “Here, eat this. It should help your… Something level. Papyrus only half explained. It’ll help, I promise,” you started rambling slightly. Asgore glanced down at his hand as he took your candy.

“This is monster candy, is it not?” A small smile came to his lips as he unwrapped it and put it into his mouth. “Ah, yes. Distinctly not licorice. Thank you, ___. “ You simply nodded your head and watched as Asgore seemed to perk up almost instantly. 

“No problem. Now go home and get some rest okay? We’re all done for the day.” 

Everyone was glad to wrap up and get themselves home, you included. Although you supposed you weren’t really going home, but to a second home. You smiled to yourself as you steered your car towards the skeleton’s street and hummed along to the radio. Before long you pulled up to their house and grabbed your purse to head inside. 

Your knuckles tapped against the orange wood and you waited patiently for an answer. Knowing Sans, it might take a knock or two to even wake him up. You were just about to pull out your phone and shoot him a text with the hope that vibrations would rouse him when a voice came from beyond the door. 

“knock knock.” Of course it would go like this. You exaggerated a groan and smiled despite yourself.

“Dude, that isn’t how this works. I’m the one that knocked.”

“knock knock,” he repeated insistently. With Sans and his puns, you figured you might as well give in before Papyrus managed to make it home.

“Who’s there?”

“tank.”

“Tank who?” The door swings open and there stands Sans, in his usual hoodie and slippers and bearing that usual shit eating grin. 

“aww, you’re welcome pal.” A beat passes before you throw your head back and groan at his dumb joke, earning you some skeleton giggles. He’s still snickering as he steps aside and lets you show yourself in. You nudge your shoes off your aching feet and follow Sans into the living room where you both get cozy. The couch is shared between you both, and you reach down into your purse to pull out a game after a few minutes of sitting quietly. Now to destress. 

Time with the two of you was often this comfortable, fairly quiet affair. Sometimes he’d say something witty to the TV and catch your attention, you’d get into a pun battle for a few moments. Other times you’d sing along to the commercials in the most ridiculous voices you had. And sometimes, like now, it was just quiet. 

“...hey.” 

“What’s up, Sans?” You spared a glance from your DS and peered at the skeleton curiously. His eyelights were trained on the television, but it didn’t seem like he was all that invested in the program.

“y’remember a while ago, when you inspected me or whatever?”

“Oh, you mean when you let me look at your bones?” you supply, smiling fondly as you tap away. “Yeah. Good times. Why, what about it?” Sans shifted slightly, still not making any effort to look directly towards you. 

“i was wondering if you’d wanna do that again.” Your beloved DS is on the floor in seconds as you shoot upright with excitement.

“Yeah, of course!” 

“i mean-- if i could do that. to you,” Sans clarifies with a slight cough. “i know ya said humans feel weird about stripping down, so no pressure or anything.”

“I-- Oh. Well I mean…” You were fairly reserved about your body. It wasn’t perfect, your waist a bit too thick, shoulders slightly broad, lovehandles on your hips and various scars dotting your skin-- But Sans was curious. How could you deny him the opportunity to learn? Especially when he’d been so generous.

Plus, he’d never seen any other human. He couldn’t compare them you.

“Sure, why not? But could we go somewhere… A little more private? Scientific curiosity is one thing, but I don’t really wanna just...feel  _ that _ much on display.” Tension seemed to lift from Sans’ body once you agreed. It was kind of cute how nervous he was. You knew him to be relaxed and casual in almost everything, seeing him out of his element was a new experience and a tad thrilling. 

“no problem. come on up.” You rose from the couch and made to follow the skeleton monster, anxiously fidgeting with the hem of your shirt as you climbed the stairs. If you had to guess, you were going to Sans’ room-- A place you’d never even seen inside. Papyrus had actively warned you away from the place as well, but you couldn’t say that didn’t pique your curiosity. Sans pushed open his door (you were right, ha) and gestured for you to go ahead inside. 

The room was nothing like you’d expected. From the way Papyrus went on about how lazy and unclean his brother was, you were envisioning trash mountains and laundry splayed everywhere. But it was fairly clean-- A little messy, sure, you could spot some clothes thrown over the back of a chair and papers scattered along his desk, but that wasn’t too out of the norm. Especially for you. 

“so you can make yourself comfortable, or do whatever you wanna do. i’ll only look and touch what you let me,” Sans said quietly, startling you, “don’t feel like you can’t say no, or anything.” You turned back as he shut the door, watching his face. There was a dusting of light blue over his cheekbones, but it probably didn’t even rival the red smattering your whole face. 

“It’s… It’s for science,” you reasoned with yourself, “I’m just. I’ve never liked looking at myself much, is all. But that’s nothing on you.” It wasn’t Sans’ fault that you were so self conscious, and it wasn’t like he was a leering perv either-- He just wanted to see what humans looked like in the flesh. You could respect a level of curiosity like that. You’d had the same thoughts towards him, after all. 

Said skeleton raised a hand to run over his cervical vertebrae and cocked a nervous smile at you as he leaned against the door

“well if it makes you feel any better, i mirror your thoughts on that.” That startled you a bit. Did skeletons even have beauty standards? If you thought about it, even by your standards, Sans was kinda cute--

“Did you seriously just pun at me right now?” The grin stretched into its normal place on his skull. “I trusted you.”

“what can i say? i see myself in all kinds of punning situations.” 

“Oh my god, just shut up and do your exam, bonehead,” you sighed, exasperatedly lifting your shirt above your head. You tossed it casually to the floor and started pushing at the band of your scrubs pants until you stood before him in your underwear. 

“if paps saw you throw your clothes on the floor like that he’d have a heart attack. heart included.” Sans snickered, watching you undress. You rolled your eyes as you fiddled with the back clasps of your bra, cursing how many there were. 

“Oh please, that poor boy lives with you. I think he can handle it-- Ahh, there we go,” you hummed in relief, letting the cups and wires slip from your frame to join your other clothes on the ground. “That’s uh. That’s all I wanna take off right now, is that okay?”

“i uh. yeah, that’s fine. s’ already way more than i took off, anyway, don’t sweat it.” Swallowing, you stretched your arms out and offered a slightly nervous smile to let him know you were ready for him to start his investigation. You watched as Sans carefully stepped forward, his bony hands hovering uncertainly over your frame, like he didn’t know where to start. 

They finally settled on the juts of your collarbone, tracing carefully and pressing slightly to test the give of your flesh and bones. You tilted your head up to give him a little more room to work, swallowing again. His hand shifted to your throat. 

“do that again.”

“I’m sorry?”

“do that again,” Sans repeated, briefly flicking his eyelights up to you. “swallow.” 

“Uh. Okay.” You felt your voice rumble against his hand as you spoke, and then obediently repeated the action. Straining a bit, you shifted your eyes down to watch his expression as you did the same motion over and over again each time his hand slightly shifted position on the column of your neck. “What’re you doing?”

“it….moves. every time.” Sans breathed with fascination before drawing his hand away. “sorry, that’s just new.” His bashfulness elicited a little laugh and you watched his eyelights dart to another part of your body for a brief moment. 

“It’s fine. That’s the whole point of this,” you reassured him with another smile. “You can ask me to do whatever, I don’t mind. Lots of things do that sort of thing on me-- Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

“i love it when you talk science to me,” the skeleton laughed warmly as you both watched and felt him relax. “what else does that kinda thing?” Humming as you thought, you eventually settled on a nice and fun human thing you were sure that as a skeleton without nerves, he didn’t have.

“Here, check this out.” You took his hand and tugged back so you could sit on the edge of his bed with him in front of you. “Tap on my knee real quick. Right here.” You pointed to the right spot and sat back, watching the confusion on his face. But he did as instructed and watched as your leg involuntarily kicked out. 

“why did you do that?” he asked, raising a browbone at you as you grinned mischievously. 

“I didn’t do it. That’s a reflex-- Does it without my input.” The mild alarm and much stronger curiosity on his face made your stomach clench with excitement. “It does that because there are nerves there that react to the outside stimuli, in this case, you touching my knee like that.”

“gotta say, that’s weird.” Nevertheless, Sans continued to tap your knee with a sort of fascination and was pleased every time your leg showed the proper response. “cool. but weird.” He snickered to himself and set about exploring on his own again, cool hands tracing up your thigh. You let him do as he pleased-- He had promised not to touch or look at anything you didn’t explicitly agree to, and you had faith he wouldn’t betray that trust. And soon enough, his hands were at your stomach, gently pushing and pulling at the pudgy skin there. You felt the tips of his fingers tracing delicate lines on your stomach and glanced down to try and see what exactly he was doing, to no avail. 

“Sans?” you asked instead. 

“you’ve got these marks on your skin here. they look kind of like rips-- you’re not gonna fall apart or anything, are you?” Ah, so that’s what he was doing. His fingers were dancing along your stretchmarks-- Not your favorite part of your body. 

“No no,” you quickly reassured, “I’m not gonna fall apart. But you’re kinda close with the ripping thing. They’re stretch marks-- Humans get them when their flesh expands rapidly, and its scar tissue left behind.” Sans’ hands paused on your belly as he looked up at you with some genuine concern in his eyelights. 

“that...sounds completely not normal, but ok.” You couldn’t help but laugh. “scar tissue, huh? it just looks kinda funny when it heals up?”

“Yeah. When you get at the point of scarring, the tissue there usually ends up mostly as collagen. Which it normally has less of,” you started, then realized that he would probably not have any idea what you were talking about. “Collagen is what keeps our skin nice and taut instead of just a goopy mess.” 

“good to know,” the skeleton chuckled. You sat back a bit, leaning on your hands to allow him some more room to explore. It was kind of hypnotic to watch-- His hands would move so careful and delicate, dragging over your skin gently and with every new bump and groove his eyelights would widen for a fraction of a second. Then you saw his eyelights dart. Before you follow his gaze, Sans was tugging gently at your arm. You shifted your weight and allowed him to look as he pleased, cringing slightly to yourself when you noted why he wanted your arm. 

Another bit of scar tissue.

He noticed the brief change in your expression as his fingers pressed around it carefully and pulled away, phalanges hovering uncertainly over the scar. 

“does it hurt?” 

“No,” you shook your head. “It doesn’t. I’m fine.” 

“ok.” He returned to his tracing over the skin and after a few repeats, leaned closer to inspect the short, straight lines. “these look and feel different. is this different skin or something?” Your lips pursed. 

“Well-- Yes and no. Stretchmarks usually only tear the first layer of skin. Those there got deeper into the second layer,” you explained, prompting another curious look. “What?”

“i dunno, they just seem… odd. they aren’t even in the same pattern as the other ones.” 

“Well yeah, I can’t exactly replicate a stretch mark, not that I was trying.” After realizing that you could be getting a bit too dark, you added a little laugh and tried to take your arm away. It wasn’t that you were ashamed, you just hated the way people reacted to you. They never understood. They just judged you, called you weak willed, and never stopped to consider what you went through that would drive you to that sort of behavior. Sans’ grip tightened just slightly around your wrist, though he didn’t force you back to him.

“you did this?”

“A long time ago. It was a bad time.” 

“ok.” He didn’t press any further, but you noticed that he seemed to let out a breath. You weren’t sure if skeletons could even suffer from holding their breath too long, now that you thought about it. For some reason, the way Sans didn’t exactly brush you off, but wasn’t prying, was comforting. It seemed that your confirmation that you didn’t do it anymore was enough for him to relax. 

At your wrist still, you felt Sans press his thumb against your veins. A visible shudder went through him as he presumably felt your pulse thrumming under his fingers. You wondered if that was weird to skeleton, to have all this liquid just pulsing around inside you all the time. 

As you thought, skeletal fingers tapped gently on various spots along your hands and arm, no discernable pattern to it until he spoke up again. 

“what are these?” Sans asked, pointing to a dot of color on your forearm. 

“Oh,” you smiled, “Those are freckles! Those are spots where the pigment for my skin color is more concentrated. Sometimes in summertime they’re a little more pronounced, especially on my nose.” You had a faint speckling of freckles over the bridge of your nose and along your forehead that became slightly more visible during summer, but otherwise you just had a random dispersion of them along your skin.

“freckles, gotcha.” Sans took a step closer, leaning in to inspect the spots along your nose that you’d pointed out. “i was wondering what those were. huh.” 

That threw you for a moment. Sans thought about your face? 

But before you could dwell on that too much, you felt his fingers prodding at you again, tapping gently against your raised nipples. Despite yourself, you jerked slightly at his touch and took a breath. 

“you okay?” he asked carefully, watching your expression. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. But that’s not a freckle.” Another wave of confusion passed over his face and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “That’s my nipple. It’s a little more sensitive.” Sans suddenly seemed nervous again, blue returning to his skull as his hands wavered. “You okay?”

“‘m fine,” he said evenly. “if you are.” You nodded and leaned back again, trying not to focus too much on the sensation of anything touching your nipples. Then he traced around the pink flesh surrounding it, feather light and inspecting. Suddenly the bony palm of Sans’ hand pushed firmly on your breast and you couldn’t hold back a gasp. 

“W--Why did you do that?” you breathed, looking at the skeleton curiously. 

“i wanted to see if there were bones or something underneath for them to stick out like that,” Sans admitted, looking away. “i didn’t-- didn’t know they were sensitive too.” Passing over the hysterical thought of bone tiddies, you tried to calm your breathing and make sure that things were okay. Sans looked so embarrassed and blue-- You felt bad for reacting like that. 

“I’m sorry. It’s fine, don’t worry about it, I don’t mind. Just...be careful, okay?” You would hate to suddenly be aroused and squick the poor fella out, but it was a possibility. Physical stimuli was physical stimuli, even if it was for purely scientific purposes. 

“ok.” He brought his other hand to your breast, and squeezed simultaneously. “it’s definitely not bone,” the skeleton noted quietly. It was all you could do to simply squeeze your thighs together and nod. Sans kept on going though, rolling the flesh between his phalanges and pinching in various spots on your breasts, feeling the little deposits of fat and dispersed ducts throughout as if trying to map them. As fun as it probably was to have a little human stress ball, you were struggling to keep yourself tame. 

But your body betrayed you. 

“should you be concerned they got bigger?” The tip of his finger brushed lightly over your hardened nipple, eliciting a sharp hiss. Shit. You carefully brought your hands up and drew Sans’ away from your breasts. Looking at him seemed a little difficult, so you completely missed the blue flush on his face expanding. 

“I… That’s a normal response. It happens when people are either turned on or cold, usually.” The room fell quiet, save your slightly labored breathing, and you feared that Sans was irrevocably grossed out. You pressed your thighs tighter together and let his hands drop from yours, starting to curl in on yourself protectively. 

“so they change when you get a good  _ boner _ going, huh?” You looked up, seeing a slightly coy smile on his skull and couldn’t help but laugh at the tension cutter. 

“That wasn’t even  _ good _ , Sans,” you giggled, relaxing some. 

“maybe, but it still got ya to laugh.” He took a step back to give you a little bit of space, probably not wanting to overwhelm you and returned his hands to his sweater pockets. You were just about to reassure him that you were fine to keep going as long as he didn’t go back for your breasts when he cleared his throat. 

“i get that this might be kinda personal, so you can decline to answer. but im just curious if  _ that much _ happens to that little part right there,” he gestured a phalange to your areola, “what...what else happens when humans get turned on?” 

Strangely enough, you didn’t mind answering his sex questions. You’d always been a strong advocate of sex education-- Why couldn’t that include monsters?

“Well, as a girl,” you started, “You… Well, you normally get wet. And hot. At some point, your muscles start to relax. Usually the um, the clit swells too, but how much depends on the girl.” 

It started to get slightly too hot under Sans’ gaze as his eyelights raked over you. 

“you don’t look wet or swollen anywhere,” he pointed out. “am i missing something here? is this another human thing?” You could’ve strangled him. Sans was such a smart monster, you knew that! Why couldn’t he take a hint? But you bit your tongue-- He was learning, it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t know to connect the dots. 

“It’s. Uh. Down there.” With one hand, you vaguely pointed towards your underwear and hoped he would finally get it. You chanced a look at his face to see if there was any understanding, but you were just met with more confusion. 

“is that whole, uh, area just like an organ or something? that it gets swollen?”

He was so genuinely curious, you couldn’t be mad at him for prying. But that didn’t make revealing yourself any easier. You sighed and ran a hand over your face, debating on how you would explain the concept of sex organs to him in a way that he could possibly understand. Did he even have genitals?

“Well, kind of? It’s like...um…,” you trailed off. In wondering if skeletons had anything to work with, your gaze had drifted down and you were met with a slightly visible tent in Sans’ athletic shorts. So he did have something. All of your previous thoughts died out when you realized that fact, leaving you staring directly at the outline of what you presumed was his dick. A few moments passed before Sans asked if you were alright, but the question fell on deaf ears as you kept staring. He followed your line of sight and flinched back immediately. 

“stars, im sorry, i didn’t-- i mean--” Sans apologized, flustered. “i guess this was too exciting for the both of us, huh?” He smiled nervously, trying to pull his jacket down over himself to be decent in front of you. 

Oh, he was cute. You swallowed your nerves and looked back up, matching Sans’ eyelights with the determined gaze of a scientist with a hunger. 

“Show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)

“ok.” 

Your mouth suddenly went dry. Sure, it was you that made the suggestion, but you hadn’t expected him to be so receptive to it. Suddenly your pulse was thundering. 

“I mean, if you want,” you said quickly, running a hand along the back of your neck. “You don’t have to.” The last thing you wanted was to pressure him into this-- But as you saw his phalanges dip under the hem of his shirt to get at his waistband, it seemed clear that he was willing. More than willing. 

Sans pushed his shorts down past his pelvic girdle, putting his dick on full display. 

_ It was blue and absolutely magnificent.  _

You tried your best to hold in a giggle, not wanting to accidentally insult him or something. He did have his junk out in front of you, after all. 

“Sorry, sorry,” you breathed, putting a hand over your mouth. “Just… Bet you get blue balls all the time, huh?” You tore your eyes from his lower half and watched Sans’ nervous expression melt into a grin. 

“heh. wouldn’t know, honestly.” 

“What, have you never?” The little shrug and added bonus of blue spreading out across his cheeks gave you all the answer you could ever need. “Hey, that’s fine! Human men just usually… are a little preoccupied with their dicks and getting off. No big deal,” you reassured, throwing him a comforting smile. 

If you were completely honest with yourself, too, the prospect was kind of hot. He had no idea what he was missing out on-- When he finally got some form of sexual gratification, it would be such a big response. You almost wanted to see it for yourself. 

You swallowed down that train of thought and pulled yourself from the bed to get closer, kneeling down at Sans’ feet. 

“so, uh,” the skeleton coughed, and you watched with amusement as his cock bounced with the movement. “is... is it different from a human?” It was a fair question. When you got a nice, good look at it (past the color), it seemed to be the right shape. What Sans did lack was the usual veins of a typical man, but you noted that he seemed to compensate with the slightest of bumps and ridges along the length. 

You shuddered slightly at the realization. 

“Uh, well… Humans usually…,” you trailed off, slightly hypnotized with the blue glowing object inches in front of your face. At this distance, you could tell every time his magic pulsed. And if you stared hard (which you were), you could just see through the slightly translucent blue to the bones of his pelvis. It was almost like watching a real, live glass dildo that just happened to be attached to a skeleton. 

“___?” 

“What?” you asked, snapping out of your trance to see said skeleton chuckling down at you. His skull was painted with a light blue flush. 

“you just like the view down there or what?” You felt yourself redden immediately and covered your face. 

“Sorry, sorry! It’s just… Y’know, it’s really… I like it,” you mumbled shyly. “It’s-- It’s a little different with the whole blue thing and all.” Silence filled the air between you for a few moments, and you worried that you’d made things awkward. Just as you were about to apologize Sans’ gentle laughter broke the tension.

“i forget how much you like the color of my magic.” There was a slight shift in his voice, breathier and smoother than his usual rumbling tone, that made you shiver. You took a steadying breath and tried to get the both of you back on track.

“So uh, you asked about how it’s different, right? Well usually, um….” Just as you were about to point out the most obvious difference, you stopped, hands hovering uncertainly over Sans’ length. “Is it… Is it okay if I touch you? It’s just easier to explain, but you can definitely say no.”

“‘s fine. hands on learning is best anyway, isn’t it?” he grinned. Despite that, you could see the nervous twitch at the corners of his mouth and waited another moment, giving him the option to back out. “go ahead.”

“Okay, then. Human men usually have veins through here,” you explained, running your fingers along the length of his cock. You fully expected the slight hitch in Sans’ breath at your touch-- But the shockwave of heat it sent through you was a surprise. Swallowing thickly, you tried your best to continue as normal. “But they don’t have all these… bumps here.”

You pressed carefully at a few of the raised spots, testing their firmness. They gave just slightly under your touch. Licking your lips, you wrapped your hand as best you could around him, noting pleasantly that you couldn’t touch your fingertips together. You squeezed, immediately met with Sans’ sharp gasp in response. 

“hhfuck, sorry,” he said sheepishly. “didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine,” you cut him off quickly. “Seriously, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” How he could apologize for making such a titillating noise like that was beyond you. His dick was firm in your hand, offering only the slightest resistance to your grip. It felt similar to any other dick you’d touched in your life, but somehow it was… Warmer wasn’t quite the right description. The heat radiating from his pool of magic was undoubtedly pleasant, but there was something more to the feeling you had with his length in your hands. 

Curious, you let your hand slide up until your palm brushed the tip of his cock. Blue, viscous fluid dripped with each resounding throb, your thumb passing gently over the head a few times. 

“mmmnh,” Sans groaned, covering his mouth with a loose fist. “shit, sorry.” So, he  _ was _ sensitive in the same places as a human. You pulled yourself away before you could get too carried away and dry swallowed as you noted the stickiness to your hands. 

“So, it uh, is blue,” you laughed shyly, raising your fingers to eye level. “And you do have...fluids.” 

“heh, yeah. ‘m uh, sorry about that.” He kept apologizing, and you appreciated the effort, but it was wildly unnecessary. Instead of correcting him though, you stared at the pre cum on your fingers and were struck with the desire to know what it tasted like. Did monster cum taste different because of the magic? Did it taste like anything at all? You had to know.

Your tongue dragged along the length of the finger with the most blue on it, drawing Sans’ magic into your mouth. Distantly, you could hear a faint whisper of a curse from him. But you were preoccupied with the sensations bursting inside of you. 

The warmth you felt when he was in your hands was in your mouth now, tingling so pleasantly it almost felt numb. There was no immediately distinct taste to it, but you had been overwhelmed with the heat. You lapped up the rest of Sans’ pre cum on your fingers, desperate to… Figure out if he had a taste. 

The heat was just a pleasant side effect. 

You managed to pick up the faintest notes of mixed fruit and marshmallows, nothing like the salty bitterness you were expecting to underlie such intense warmth. Without your notice, your lids had fallen shut and a blissful sigh escaped you as you savored the feeling. When it finally faded away and your sense came back to you, you realized what had happened. You hurriedly looked at anything but Sans’ and his still dripping cock, skin prickling with embarrassment. 

“So! Um…” You wracked your overheated brain for an appropriate thing to say. “If you have cum, but no organs, then how does monster pregnancy work?” As soon as the words were out of your mouth you flinched at your awkwardness. 

“it’s-- it’s a magic thing,” Sans explained, unbothered by the way you’d asked. “a soul thing to be more specific.”

“Oh.” You thought on it for a second. “So say you have sex with human, we have souls but no magic. Can you get a human pregnant?” Immediately Sans snorted, shaking his head. A pout tugged at your lips-- It was a perfectly valid question after all!

“hey, c’mon, don’t make that face,” he chided with a chuckle. “i guess it’s less obvious to you since you don’t know how monster pregnancy works. when i said it was a soul thing, i meant that when monsters have sex, they both have to have the intent of getting pregnant to actually do that. so unless the human and the monster both want to get pregnant, it won’t happen.” You blinked at the explanation. 

“That’s...actually incredibly sweet. And convenient,” you murmured quietly. 

“convenient?” Sans asked, tilting his head slightly. 

“Uh.” You fidgeted, shifting yourself off of your knees as they started to ache. “Humans… Humans get pregnant if they get cum inside,” you started, straightening out your spine. “And despite that, some humans like the feeling of having it inside them? Even though they don’t want to be pregnant. Does that make sense?”

“you humans are real freaks, huh?” 

“Sans!” you whined, watching the skeleton erupt into laughter. “I hate you, I can’t believe I agreed to this,” you huffed insincerely. 

“but ya did, no  _ cumming _ out of it now,” Sans grinned. Throwing your head back, you mixed a groan and scream into one terrible, exasperated noise. 

“Shut up and get this over with.” You took the opportunity to try and be nonchalant about the occasion, wiggling out of your underwear with a painted look of annoyance hiding your anxiety. Before he got too close, you lay yourself back on his bed and spread your legs a bit. It was time to hold up your end of the bargain. 

Sans readjusted his shorts over his hipbones and climbed onto the bed with you, settling between your thighs and staring down curiously. 

“thought you said it was an organ?” he said curiously, staring at the expanse of skin above your opening. “looks like normal skin to me.” You hid a quiet snort of amusement and lifted your hips a bit to make it more obvious. 

“That’s not what I was talking about. Down here,” you gestured, reaching down to separate your folds. “See?” Sans eyelights flickered for a moment as he saw the pink flesh, glistening with moisture

“and this is your vagina?” 

“Well technically, no. The vagina part is here,” pointing to your wet slit, “The things around it are just accessory sex organs.” The look of confusion on his face was familiar enough by now to almost make you relax about the situation. “Just-- poke around and I’ll tell you what’s what, I can’t exactly see down there right now,” you chuckled. 

“...ok.” You drew your hands back to let Sans do his own exploring. He hesitated, phalanges wavering over your form before spreading your folds carefully. “oh. guess that’s what you meant by wet, huh?”

“Oh you have no idea,” you mumbled to yourself. “But yes, that’s what I meant.” He traced over your labia and you named the part for him. Even though you expected his fingers on your clit, the moment he made contact you couldn’t help but jolt forwards. 

“you-- you ok?” Sans checked, although he hadn’t pulled away. You took a breath, forcing yourself to relax and trying to numb yourself to the pleasant sensation. 

“I’m… I’m fine. That’s my clit-- One of those things that swells when I’m turned on. And it’s the most sensitive part.” 

“oh. uh.” You heard what you could swear was bones rattling, but before you could dwell on it Sans fingers were pulling away from your clit and trailing down to your opening. “so this is the actual vagina?”

“Yep.” 

“and it’s… it’s a hole, right? like a cavity inside you?”

“Mhm.” There were a few more moments of silence, and you felt Sans’ fingertips tracing aimlessly around the pink flesh as he seemed to contemplate something. 

“what’s it like inside? is it skin? or more of this kind of thing?” he asked, emphasizing by tapping your inner labia. You sat up a bit to read Sans’ expression a bit more clearly, wondering if he was curious or grossed out by your anatomy. That blue flush on his skull filled you with more boldness than you’d ever had in your life. 

“You can feel for yourself. If-- If you want.” Suddenly the air thickened, almost crackling with a sort of static. The abrupt shift almost made you withdraw your offer, but before you could, Sans was already slipping a finger inside your pussy. 

“ _ stars _ ,” he whispered. “‘s so...warm. and wet.” He carefully pushed deeper into you, dragging his fingertip along your walls and pressing against every groove. It took everything in you to repress a whimper, so you lay back and tried your best. For a few minutes, you managed to stay quiet as Sans explored inside you-- But then he found a new spot and dug his finger into it curiously. 

“did--did you just clench? this thing can do that?” he asked in bewilderment, brushing into your little button to repeat the reaction. You couldn’t help but moan that time, cheeks reddening. 

“That’s, ahh, fuck,” you gasped as he did it again, “That’s my... “ His finger raked over it again and you couldn’t get the words out. 

“d’you want me to stop?” Sans offered. “it just feels different here. but i can stop--”

“God no please don’t stop,” you whined, too quickly. Despite your reassurance, Sans’ finger stilled inside you and he fell silent. The pause gave you just enough clarity to understand what you’d just said to him. 

“I… Sans, I…” 

“..... ___, i…. “ 

You knew the look in his blown eyelights. It was the same look no doubt painted on your features. 

Arousal. 

Your heart pounded as you just stared at each other, neither one of you willing to pull away. Neither one willing to say the words ‘stop’. 

“Sans,” you breathed, panting softly. “Do you… Do you want to--”

“I’M HOME! I DO HOPE YOU’RE AWAKE WITH THE HUMAN HERE, SANS!” came a shout from downstairs, causing you both to jump violently. A beat passed and you started laughing together, embarrassed and slightly relieved. 

“welp. i’ll, uh, i’ll go say hi to paps and give you a minute to get dressed,” Sans said as he withdrew his finger. He sat back a bit, hovering over you for a moment. You waited for him to move, watching with some confusion as he hesitated to pull away from you. “see ya downstairs, kiddo.” Then he was closing the door gently behind him, leaving you naked on his bed. 

You groaned and threw yourself back on his pillow. You needed a minute to get yourself together before you even tried to get dressed. All at once it came crashing onto you--

The warmth, the comfort you felt with Sans. 

You wanted to bone the skeleton. 

You were totally boned. 


	15. Chapter 15

Pushing things down had never been your strong suit when it came to worry. 

Dinner had been  _ painfully _ awkward on your end, although Sans and Papyrus didn’t seem to notice, bless their souls. There was no way Sans was unaware and yet he didn’t press the matter. 

You left their home with the normal hug from each skeleton and screamed out some of the anxiety on the drive home, muffled by the radio. This was a lot of new information and feelings to process. 

_ And _ you had work in the morning. 

Racing thoughts and too vivid memories of touches kept you up all night no matter how you tossed, turned, even took a sleep aid-- Nothing worked, and by sunrise you were still awake. You threw up your hair and had a bit of extra time to try putting on a little foundation over the dark bags beneath your eyes, though it didn’t help much. 

No amount of caffeine was going to save you now, might as well avoid upsetting your stomach.

You trudged into the hospital basement and all but threw your bag onto the locker hook. Andrea paused in removing her jacket, giving you a concerned look.

“You alright hun? Just already done with the day?” she asked gently. 

“That’s… One way to put it,” you nodded with a sigh. “I haven’t even slept yet today. Like at all.” Andrea met you with a wince and patted your shoulder. 

“Anxiety again?”

“Unfortunately.” The details were irrelevant to share-- After all, how was she supposed to help you make sense of the tangled mass of feelings you may or may not have for a monster? 

“Let me know if your head hurts too much for scope stuff today, I’ll take care of it,” Andrea promised with a little smile. “Just push through, then you can go home and pass out, hun.” 

“Thanks, ‘Drea, I love you.” The two of you headed on into the lab floor and met with Alphys for the morning. You felt bad, but most of her words went in one ear and right out the other-- Something about a new idea she was working on. The pieces weren’t all there yet, so she would definitely be telling you about it again, although the phrase ‘antibody magic’ did catch your attention for a few seconds. 

“H--Hey,” the lizard monster called to you quietly. “Are y-you doing alright? You look like you didn’t, um, sleep last night. I-I know that look well.” You offered her a tired, strained smile and a shrug. 

“I’ve… Been better. But I’ll make it through the day.” 

Alphys returned your smile with her own and suggested a few remedies for you, various UnderTube channels of guided relaxation, and sleep inducing techniques. Despite not having the utmost faith in it, you appreciated her effort and thanked her before going back to work. 

By some mercy, the day’s work wasn’t too terrible. Andrea took pity on you and dealt with the incoming samples that required a bit more thought to them, while you were stuck on inoculation duty. All the magic you’d withdrawn from Asgore was going to be put to use. You were going to see exactly how microorganisms that had pathogenic effects in humans would affect monsters. All you had to do was label, inoculate, rinse and repeat. You could manage that much, at least. 

After setting aside the last vial of Asgore’s essence, you looked up at the clock. Almost five. Good! As soon as you put the plates and tubes in the incubator to grow properly, you could stash your stuff, clock out, and go home to crash. 

It had definitely been one of those days where you were looking forward to a drink. 

You hesitated with your car keys in hand and checked your phone. Papyrus and Sans hadn’t texted you to hang out tonight, and if you wanted a drink just to help calm you… 

A quick google search and ten minutes later, along with four separate thoughts of reconsidering, two panicked ideas that  _ Sans himself _ could be there, and one idle worry that you didn’t spell the name right, you stood in front of Grillby’s bar. The last time you were here it had been with Sans… No, that wasn’t a train of thought you wanted to deal with yet. Not without some of Grillby’s green magic, at least.

You pushed your way inside and sat at the counter like before, idly scanning over the written menu at the back. Before you could make a decision, however, the fire monster directed his daughter to deal with another customer so that he could make his way over to you. His flames crackled and tilted to the side in what you only assumed to be a question.

“Oh, uh,” you smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Grillby, I dunno what I want yet…” 

“...you look…troubled.” His voice startled you. You hadn’t even known he was  _ capable _ of speech. “...as if you...would like...a drink.” Was it really that obvious, that even a relative stranger could see how much of a wreck you were in ten seconds flat? You ran a hand along the side of your face and tried to reply when Grillby beat you to it again. 

“...I bartend. This is... a skill of mine…,” he clarified for you, as if reading your thoughts. “...you….like chocolate. I will...bring you something...suitable.” That at least took the pressure of choosing off your shoulders. You smiled gratefully at the fire monster and leaned against the countertop, waiting patiently for whatever he’d bring you back. Already, your brain started up again once Grillby disappeared, going in a million different panicked directions at once. 

Did you like Sans? Of course you did. But did you  _ like  _ him? Were you just touch starved and overly friendly? Did he think anything different of you? How did he feel about what had happened between you? Were you panicking for nothing? What did Sans think? What would Papyrus think? Would he be mad at you for having feelings for his brother?  _ Did _ you have feelings for his brother, or had you just been alone for so long? What was anything? Who were you?

Thankfully, Grillby was there to interrupt your spiraling before it got even more out of control. 

“...here.” A martini glass was sat in front of you. You looked curiously into the glass, staring at the creamy concoction. 

“Is this…. A chocolate martini?” you asked skeptically, smiling at little at the absurdity. Grillby simply nodded and stood behind the bar motionlessly, save the flickering of his flames. “First time for everything, I guess, right?” You took a tentative sip. 

It certainly wasn’t the worst thing you’d ever put in your mouth. It hit your tongue a tad bit funny, but it was bearable, and the chocolate taste activated some pleasure center in your brain despite the burn of alcohol. 

“That’s not too bad, Grillby. Thank you.” He nodded again and you took another sip, wondering briefly to yourself when he’d go check on the rest of the bar. Another minute passed.

Grillby didn’t move.

“...I am… A bartender. We….make good listeners,” he offered more pointedly, waiting for you to either accept or deny him. You let out a little sign and swirled your glass a little, watching the liquor swish around. 

“It’s kinda complicated…. I think I like this guy, but he’s my friend. And I haven’t been in a relationship in so long… I guess I’m worried. Do I actually like him, or am I just starved for affection, you know? If it was just me being lonely, I’d really screw up our friendship, and I don’t want to hurt him,” you rambled, pausing to take another sip of your martini. “And I… Really don’t know what to do. We had kind of a weird encounter that made it very prominent that I wouldn’t mind if we straight on boned, and he didn’t totally seem opposed either. I’m stuck between a rock and hard place here, Grillby.” 

You looked up at him and wondered how much green magic he’d put into your drink for your tongue to get that loose. Before you could get too far with that thought, however, you noted the contemplative note to his fire. 

Huh. At least you were getting better at reading him. 

“...I believe… I can help you…,” he started. “...Would you...come with me...for a moment?” For some reason, you felt inclined to follow. Sans trusted him. You trusted Sans. You nodded and set your finished drink on the counter, sliding off the stool to let Grillby lead you wherever. He gestured for you to follow him behind the bar and slip into what you assumed was the kitchen, then through another door. 

It looked like an office. You noticed a few papers and log books stacked on a desk. Definitely an office. 

“...this affords...more privacy,” Grillby explained. He stared at you intensely for a moment or two, making your face start to flush with nerves. 

“Uh, yeah,” you nodded. Seemed reasonable enough, but his unbreaking gaze was a little unsettling. “Sure, so. You had an idea?”

“...I do.” Grillby removed his glasses, tucking them safely into the pocket of his vest. “...you...wanted to know...if you were...simply reacting to touch.” Yes, that was right. If it was Sans or just being doted on, close to someone. Could this have happened with Papyrus? A stranger, even? Or was it something real? Grillby’s voice called you back from your anxious train of thoughts, much closer than you remembered it.

“...would you...like to test it?” He was mere inches from your face now. The heat on your cheeks was certainly  _ just _ coming from him. “...I have...no attachment...to you.” 

Realizing the implication of what he just offered hit you like a freight train. Good  _ lord _ . 

“Uh….” He wanted to kiss you. Well, not so much wanted, as much as was offering to help you test for a reaction. 

….Well, when you thought of it that way, it wasn’t so disconcerting. You shifted your eyes quickly around Grillby’s face, wondering how this would work at all, before giving him your nod of consent. 

He slowly closed the distance between you by pressing a warm hand to your cheek, gently guiding you to his ‘mouth’. Grillby was warm, and his hand firm but tender, just like you loved. His equivalent of lips (a matter to keep you up a different night) moved delicately against yours. 

He was  _ amazing _ . 

...by all technical standards. It was nice, but… You didn’t find yourself enjoying it like when Sans touched you. When his bones pressed against you, fingers just slightly less than warm, that stupid grin on his face when you made a noise or shivered. 

Grillby pulled away and gave you a questioning look (you were getting really good at reading). “...did that…help?” he asked, letting his hand drop back to his side. 

“It did,” you nodded, slightly dazed by your own revelation. “Thank you, Grillby. Not many people would kiss a stranger for a science experiment,” you joked, slightly nervous again.

But you were happier for the nerves this time. You liked Sans. It was clear, it hadn’t just been your untouched desires stirring up in the closest possible companion. 

_You genuinely liked him._

Grillby patted your shoulder and withdrew his glasses, settling them back on his face. “...I am glad… you seem less troubled.” You smiled gratefully at him and brushed some hair out of your face. 

“Yes… Thank you again, for that. I think I’m going to go home and think on this some more. But thank you, really, Grillby.” He simply nodded and made a small motion for you to go. He must have had further business in his office. That was fine, you had a date with your bed and a relatively anxiety free night of rest.

As you left, ready to sleep on your new information and tackle it further in the morning, Grillby sighed softly. 

Another favor to add to Sans’ tab. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to just go AWOL. College and life are rough, friendos.   
> Anyway, the much awaited and probably curveball chapter is out ! Hope y'all enjoyed.


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